Creating a generation of more aware and responsible motorists is the aim of a program that the Liberal Government is proud to support.
The Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Program (RYDA) targets Year 10 students who are on the cusp of learning to drive, seeking to change attitudes and develop a greater awareness of the dangers they will encounter.
We committed before the March election to provide funding to support this program and today I am pleased to confirm that, as promised, the Liberal Government will provide $300,000 over four years through the Road Safety Levy.
As part of the funding agreement, Rotary will work in partnership with the Department of State Growth to review how the program is conducted across the State to help make it more sustainable into the future.
Delivered by Rotary Tasmania volunteers, this is a great program that addresses the fact that those aged between 16 and 25 years are heavily over represented in Tasmanian crash statistics.
Young drivers are the most vulnerable road users, particularly in their first six to 12 months of unsupervised driving, and largely due to their inexperience and risk-taking behaviours.
We need to work with younger drivers to raise awareness of how crashes can occur in an instant and change lives forever.
The Liberal Government is also pleased to help disadvantaged learner drivers in gaining their licences with a $1.5 million commitment over three years to support driver mentoring programs.
Supporting young people to learn to drive and to be more responsible, law-abiding motorists takes a community effort, and I want to commend Rotary and all those groups and volunteers who are helping to make our roads safer.