Click photo to enlarge
Pupils from Kings High School, in Dunedin, (from left) Matt
Plaisted, Nick Fieldwick, Ben Dolan, Nick Somerville,
Hayden Pringle, Adam Ryland and Aidan Hall watch as V8
circuit driver John Whelan applies the brakes during
yesterday's driving safety demonstration. Photo by Peter
McIntosh.
Taking the safety message out of the classroom and into a
practical setting is vital, says V8 circuit driver John Whelan.
Mr Whelan (22) and the Otago Club Motor Trust yesterday
hosted an interactive demonstration of stopping distances.
Two groups, from Kings and Bayfield High Schools, attended
the demonstration outside Dunedin's Ice Stadium, and pupils
took turns to ride in the vehicles with Mr Whelan.
Pupils on the sideline placed wooden blocks on the ground
where they thought the vehicles - one with ABS braking and
one without - would stop when Mr Whelan applied the brakes at
40kmh and then 60kmh.
The demonstration was carried out in both wet and dry
conditions.
Whelan told the Otago Daily Times that as a school pupil he
had attended "boring" safety talks.
Full of facts and statistics and given in the classroom, they
did not have the impact of the real thing.
"If you say it takes 10m to stop, [pupils] can't visualise
how long 10m is."
Pupils had been surprised by the stopping distances, and only
by taking the exercise out of the classroom could this be
shown, Mr Whelan said.
Kings deputy principal Daryl Shields said while the speeding
message was well known, most people had little idea how long
it took to stop.
The difference between stopping at 40kmh and 60kmh was
dramatic and had surprised the pupils.
Boys liked "visual stuff" and the exercise helped get the
"realisation in their head that if you speed, you take longer
to stop".
Kings year 12 pupil Adam Ryland found the exercise a valuable
reminder not to speed.
Adam (15), who owns a car, said while he did not speed, the
exercise reinforced for him the dangers of going too fast and
not being able to stop before hitting something.
Bayfield deputy principal Mike Beagley said a predominantly
female group found the demonstration an "eye-opener" and were
genuinely surprised by the stopping distances.
It was an effective way to get the safety message across, he
said.
- Eileen Goodwin
