Why RYDA?
Road crashes are one of the main causes of brain injury in Australia.
Over 40% of people who sustain a brain injury each year are young people aged between 15 and 24 years old.
As there is no ‘cure’ for brain injury, the emphasis must be on prevention.
About RYDA
Each year BIAT delivers the ‘Crash Investigator’ component of the RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) program to Grade 10 students from across Southern Tasmania.
RYDA is designed for 16-18-year-old students who are approaching that crucial time in their lives where they start to drive independently or are travelling as passengers in a car driven by one of their peers. In Tasmania the program is delivered to Year 10 students.
What makes the 'Crash Investigator' session special?
The ‘Crash Investigator’ sessions are co-presented with a person with lived experience of brain injury and/or spinal cord injury.
A crash survivor co-presents every session, sharing valuable insights on life with brain injury sustained as a result of a motor vehicle crash.
The session provides a unique opportunity for students to interviews and investigate the event that changed his life.
Learning about their experience helps to inform the choices young Tasmanians make as they become independent road users.
Students are asked to consider the effects of sustaining a serious permanent injury, such as a brain injury or a spinal cord injury, from a road crash:
- What impact would that injury have on their life plans?
- How would it impact their family and friends?
BIAT is proud to be part of education programs such as RYDA, which focus on brain injury prevention in the community.
Brain Injury Prevention
BIAT has been delivering the ‘Crash Survivor/ Investigator’ session since the inception of the RYDA program in Tasmania over 10 years ago.
Each year, over a 3 week period, BIAT deliver the ‘Crash Investigator’ session to over 2,000 Grade 10 students from over 20 different High Schools in southern Tasmania.