Around 250 students from five local high schools were participants in the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness [RYDA] program last week, at the Yamba Sports Centre. The RYDA program in conjunction with Road Safety Education Limited (RSE) has been running in Yamba for the last nine years and this year saw its 2000th student taking part. “RYDA is a series of practical and powerful workshops for high school students that challenge students to change the way they think about road safety and lay the foundation for safe road use throughout their lives”, said Greg Rappo, RSE Program Director. “This education doesn’t come from driving lessons or the school classroom,” he said. Local Rotarian, Glenn Brown says, “One of the great things about RYDA is that you don’t have to live in a capital city to access it. The support of local Rotary Clubs means that this award winning program can be run in all communities, by local road safety and education professionals, including the police”. “Young people continue to be over represented in road crash statistics. In fact, one young person dies on Australian roads almost every day. And for every life lost, another 20 are forever changed due to serious injuries. The most dangerous time for any young road user is in the first six to 12 months of being a solo driver.” he said. RYDA is made possible through the strong support of corporate partners, BOC, Toyota Australia, Bosch and Bridgestone, as well as community partner, Rotary. RYDA also receives greatly valued funding from the NSW Government. Further information can be found at www.rse.org.au