VIA : Making young people actors of their own Road Safety
Anne-Valérie Troy – VIA program coordinator TotalEnergies Foundation and Michelin Foundation :
Road accidents are the primary cause of death of young people aged 5-29 worldwide. That means more than 500 young people die on the road every day worldwide.
The equivalent of two full airplanes crashing every day!
So we must take action to make young people more aware so as to stop this masacre.
VIA is an educational programme launched in partnership with the Michelin Foundation to inform and educate young people about Road Safety. It targets 10- to 18-years olds.
Agnès Junet – Pro2Cycles/Planète-Vélo trainer:
The VIA programme involves educating via a project. The young people must set up a project to improve Road Safety around their own schools.
The programme concerns all road-users: pedestrians, cyclists, scooter-riders and car passengers.
It’s a really innovative structure. Instructors don’t tell students what they have to learn by heart, what the rules are, etc. They’re there to guide them.
Anne-Valérie Troy:
When we were designing the VIA programme, we took past experiences into account, and we started thinking of a method by which we could make young people actors of the programme. So they’re the heart of the programme, they do the thinking about the possible risks and the solutions to avoid them.
Agnès Junet:
Before taking part, they didn’t feel concerned. They thought the Highway Code and Road Safety only concerned car drivers. But as we saw them evolve during the programme, they gradually took things on board.
Student 1:
I was an actor in the exercise and I received information part of which was already stored away in my head. But I no longer used it, so I rediscovered it again.
Student 2:
What we were taught is very important and we should do things like that.
Student 3:
What we did was interesting… and pratical.
Student 1:
After the programme, I felt I had understood the things that are necessary and very important to do.
Student 2:
I’d invite all my friends to take part in the programme sot they can be made aware, like we were.
Anne-Valérie Troy:
VIA is in its experimental phase in three countries: in France, in the Lyon region, in Cameroon and in India. And it should be rolled out across the globe in the coming months.
The aim is to have 100,000 young people educated over the next three years. That’s just the first step, because we hope to attract other partners to the programme which would give it even more impact and allow us to roll it out in more cities and countries.
By 2020, this worldwide awareness programme will be rolled out to 100,00 young people.
