For the first time, Road Smart Kickstart, an interactive program using gamified learning stations, will be rolled out to Year 7 and 8 students in country schools to help shape road behaviours early on.

Designed to align with the 2025 Western Australian health and physical education curriculum area, the free program, run by the Road Safety Commission, is looking to shape behaviour before young people apply for their learners’ permit.

The Road Safety Commission’s dedicated education team is gearing up for thousands of kilometres on the road as they bring this vital education directly to regional communities, recognising that 60 per cent of road fatalities occur on regional roads.

More than 55 sessions are already scheduled across schools in the Great Southern, South West, and Wheatbelt regions.

WA Police and Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said safe driving attitudes can save lives.

“By the time they begin thinking about getting a driver’s licence, many young people have already, often unknowingly, been shaped by the behaviours and attitudes they’ve observed in others - particularly around speeding, distractions, seatbelt use, and peer pressure.

“Through gamified learning, students are able to explore their own thoughts and experiences – as pedestrians, cyclists, eRideable users, and passengers – and discover how these perspectives might influence them now, and as a future driver.

“We are thrilled that more than 1414 students are already booked to complete the program in 2025, with strong forecasts on future bookings.”

Developed with input from education content provider Kimberlin Education, an appealing feature of the program is that it’s almost completely self-contained, run by the Road Smart Kickstart team, with schools only being required to provide space for the program to be set up.

Facilitators guide groups of up to 30 students through a 110-minute incursion, which allows students to deeply engage with the five stations (covering Speed, Distractions, Fatigue, Peer Pressure and Safety Gear) and apply their learnings to a Community Task activity.

A shorter, 55-minute incursion is available if the recommended 110-minute session can’t be accommodated.

Hoping to encourage creative local initiatives to make local communities safer, the State Government said the school visits will also include opportunities for schools to apply for road safety grants.

These grants will vary from $500 ‘Power Up’ grants for small school community centred projects to $5000 ‘Change Master’ grants available to schools for more comprehensive programs.

According to the Guardian Australia, our nation’s roads are getting deadlier, with a period a four-year period of surging fatalities into last year marking a trend of increasing danger not recorded since the 1960s. That’s before seatbelts were compulsory.

In 2024, 1300 people died on our roads, making it the deadliest year since 2012, when the figure was also 1300. That figure was 18.5 per cent higher than 2021.

Last year’s figures revealed 12-monthly increases in road deaths in Western Australia of 7.1 per cent, 3.7 per cent in NSW, 5.8 per cent in Victoria and 1 per cent in Queensland. Fatalities surged 200 per cent in the ACT and 89.3 per cent in the Northern Territory.

While South Australia (-11.2 per cent) and Tasmania (-5.9 per cent) had 12-month declines in road deaths, even these jurisdictions are still significantly off-track from their National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 notional targets because of previous increases in fatalities.

WA Education Minister Sabine Winton said it is crucial that all Western Australian students, including those in regional areas, learn how to drive safely on the state’s roads and understand the consequences of reckless driving behaviours.

“Strong road safety education helps keep young people safe and protects them from the dangers of road accidents,” Winton said.

“I am pleased to see positive uptake of this innovative pilot program and look forward to seeing this range of initiatives implemented in our regional schools to help save lives.”

The new programs will complement the successful Road Safety Commission funded Keys4Life education program that allows students over 15 to learn about safer driving and sit their Learner’s Permit Theory Test.

To schedule a Road Smart Kickstart incursion at your school, or for any enquiries, email here.