Youth and Road Trauma Forum

The Forums were held at the Acer Arena, Olympic Park, Homebush Bay. More than 4000 students from 31 high schools attended in 2006 and more than 10,000 students from 100 schools attended in 2007. Evaluations of both students and teachers rated the events very positively. There was also significant interest and support from the media.

The forums were held because our youth are being severely injured and killed due to potentially preventable road crashes. The NSW statistics for 2004 for 17-25 year olds recorded 6,856 casualties of road trauma and 187 deaths. These young people hold only 15 per cent of licenses, but they are involved in 28 per cent of crashes, which often result in hospitalization. Westmead Hospital Trauma Nurses and NRMA are committed to decreasing these numbers.

The forum gives students who are most at risk, a realistic look at the trauma caused by road crashes and provides them information and strategies in an attempt to reduce serious injuries and deaths. The forum's contents and structure aims to treat young people as adults, allowing them freedom to choose from a range of interactive exhibits.

The Youth and Road Trauma Forums are

• Free
• Open to all government and non government high schools in Sydney and surrounding areas
• Each school attends for one day only
• Held at Acer Arena (formerly known as the Superdome) Homebush Bay, Sydney
• Provisional time frame is 9:30 to 2:30pm

The day includes an exciting combination of demonstrations, crash dynamics and rescue, vehicle stopping distances and active exhibits

• Westmead Hospital's Emergency Department
• NRMA's
  • Mobile Member Centre
  • Road and vehicle safety experts
  • Safer Driving School
• Brain Injury Unit
• Organ and Tissue Donation
• Drug and Alcohol Service
• The NSW Police
• Fire Brigade
• Ambulance Service
• CareFlight
• SES
• St John Ambulance
• Red Cross
• Driving Simulators
• Volvo Truck Roll-over Simulator
• Subaru
• Trent Driving and Wheelchair Sports Association

Phone:  9845 7072

Email: Stephanie_Wilson@wsahs.nsw.gov.au or Julie_seggie@wsahs.nsw.gov.au