Melanie Suitor (middle) with Kayla O’Brien and Ben Howard from SafeT360 at Parkes High School.
Year 11 Parkes High students got into the driver seat of a truck on Tuesday using virtual reality technology.
An immersive road safety exhibition, presented by SafeT360, made Parkes its first stopover on a state wide tour to educate young road users how they can share the road safely with trucks.
“Our goal is to save lives,” said Marketing and Engagement Coordinator Kayla O’Brien. “Statistics show the 16 to 25-year-old age group is the most overrepresented group of drivers involved in crashes.”
Developed by the Australian Trucking Association, SafeT360 is an interactive custom-built road safety exhibition that uses virtual reality and interactive messaging all packed into a real travelling truck and trailer. The exciting exhibition came to Parkes and Forbes on the request of Melanie Suitor, Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer at Parkes Shire Council. Melanie feels there is a real gap in driver education about trucks, and wanted students to learn from the exhibition.
“I learned new things about trucks and the four blind spots,” said Year 11 student Tyler Cole. “It was a cool experience to put on the virtual reality goggles.”
Nathan Eric was impressed with the exhibition. “There is a lot of information about trucks to ensure the drivers of cars do not end up in really bad accidents.”
By Maggi Barnard