On Monday 14 May, Year 11 students took part in the Fit to Drive (F2D) program. Watching the students role play the act of jumping into a car for a night out with mates was full of fun and laughter until a sobering news report was shown. The scenario they had been acting out was actually the real-life tragic story of the deaths of four teenagers in 2006. The students were taught about responsibility, influences, choices and consequences when they took part in the F2D workshop last Monday.
The workshop featured a presentation from Victoria Police about some of the facts relating to young drivers and the above scenario was presented as part of the workshop by the MFB. Based on research, evidence and best practice principles in the areas of behaviour change, peer facilitation, education, engagement with young people, and appropriate road safety messages for the target audience, VicRoads launched the current model of the workshops in 2014. Since then, the program has been delivered to over 85,000 Year 11 students across Victoria.
F2D provides a peer facilitation model encouraging engagement and participation of Year 11 students. The focus is on the behaviour and responsibilities of all road users and the development of a personal safety plan encouraging young people to consider how they will travel at all times, and in particular what they would do if they were faced with a risky situation or were feeling unsafe.
