As final-year high-school students look to the future and countdown until the end of exams across Australia and New Zealand, Bridgestone has reaffirmed its commitment to Road Safety Education Limited (RSE) and the RYDA program for a further three years, in a bid to create safer roads for them in the future.
RYDA is the flagship program offered by RSE. It is a series of practical and powerful workshops for high school students, designed to challenge students to change the way they think about road safety, and lay the foundation for safe road use throughout their lives.
Students take part in the RYDA day at the critical age of 16-18, as they are learning to drive, obtaining their provisional licences or being passengers in cars with inexperienced drivers. The day not only aims to shape driver behaviour and attitudes of drivers, but also young passengers.
Bridgestone Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, Stephen Roche, believes the partnership with RYDA is imperative to benefit the next generation of motorists and passengers.
"Safety is all about attitude, and RYDA does a great job of fostering the right attitude in young drivers and passengers at such a formidable point of their lives," Mr Roche said.
"Our ongoing commitment to RSE and the RYDA program is a reflection of its success, and the cut through it has with the thousands of students across Australia and New Zealand that take part each year.
"This time of year, the right attitude towards road safety is even more important, with so many young motorists and passengers embarking on their 'schoolies' trips or planning summer road trips, so our partnership renewal with RYDA is a timely one."
During the RYDA program, students take part in a series of workshops with a number of expert facilitators to address laws, distractions, risk management, peripheral vision, and other motorists' requirements.
RSE facilitates nearly 400 RYDA days per year, reaching in excess of 600,000 students from more than 650 schools across Australia and New Zealand since its inception. Bridgestone has been a proud supporter of the program since 2016.
Road Safety Education Limited CEO and Managing Director Terry Birss said RSE is delighted to have the partnership extended with Bridgestone.
"As the world's leading tyre manufacturer, Bridgestone has a very sophisticated road safety culture and it's very encouraging to have a trusted company like Bridgestone supporting our mission to reduce youth road trauma – especially when they are as passionate about road safety as we are," Mr Birss said.
"RYDA is crucial to the safety of novice drivers and young passengers. For us, it's not enough to teach a young person how to control and manoeuvre a vehicle. We must balance this with the skill of critical thinking, planning and resilience along with a motivation to make safe choices on the road," Mr Birss added.
Bridgestone's partnership with RSE and the RYDA program is a core part of its local activities within the company's global Corporate Social Responsibility platform, 'Our Way to Serve.'
The RYDA partnership is in line with supporting young people, one of the three priority areas within Our Way to Serve.
For further information about the RYDA program, visit http://rse.org.au/programs/ryda/.
For further media information please contact:
Tom Worsley - PR and Content Specialist
Bridgestone Australia
+61 8 8206 0208
+61 488 665 592
tworsley@bridgestone.com.au
Brooke O'Donnell – General Manager
Education & Communications
Road Safety Education Limited
1300 127 642
+61 407 189 998
brooke@rse.org.au
