Sussex Safer Roads Partnership Theatre in Education Year 11 Resource

TAKE A

SECOND A YEAR 11 N O E C R U O S TEACHING RE Y T E F A S R E G N E PASS

Welcome to Sussex Safer Roads Partnership Take a Second teaching resource designed to help Year 11 students learn about the importance of passenger safety and how to be safe passengers.

This flexible teaching resource aims to improve students’ awareness of the impact of their own behaviours. It covers how to actively be a safe passenger, the impact of speed on a collision, the dangers of distracting a driver, drink and drugs and how to speak up to stay safe in a car.

This resource has been designed for teachers, by teachers, and we hope that you can use all, or some of it, across the current school year to help deliver these really important messages to your Year 11s and help establish positive behaviours that will keep them safe in the future.

The resource can be used in a number of ways in the classroom: 1. All four lessons can create a project or topic to follow throughout a term 2. Organise a ‘topic’ day in school on passenger safety and use the lessons for activities 3. Each lesson can be used individually without having to use the other lessons 4. If you are limited on time you can use the starter activities to get the key messages across, during form time, or combine them into one full length lesson.

It is completely up to you, but everything you need is here to deliver inspiring lessons on this vital topic.

Each lesson is supported by multi-media content that helps demonstrate the learning objectives in each lesson. You can find the videos here We hope that you enjoy using this resource with your students.

WHY WE DO THIS Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, SSRP, has been engaging and supporting schools across Sussex since 2012. 1,072 passengers are killed or injured each year on Sussex roads and SSRP is determined to bring this number down through education and awareness.

In 2020, our free Theatre-in-Education Roadshow, that would normally visit your school, has been temporarily suspended due to the current pandemic. However, SSRP is determined that no students will miss out on these vital messages that help keep our young people safer. We hope that you join us in our mission by using this resource with your Year 11s.

We know how busy teachers are, so we aim to make all our resources as flexible as possible allowing teachers to do what they are best at, teach.

To find out more about SSRP and our work please visit www.sussexsaferroads.gov.uk

CONTENT LESSON 1 TAKE A SECOND

A lesson on how distraction can affect concentration and how passengers can influence driver behaviour Video: Take a Second

LESSON 2 SEE STRAIGHT

Looking at the three Ds; Distraction, drugs and drink, students explore why these are the biggest factors in road traffic collisions, especially with novice drivers Activity sheet: See Straight Video: See Straight

LESSON 3 HOLD ME BACK

Exploring the science of seatbelts and basic in-car safety, students look at the difference between wearing a seatbelt or not and tackle the issue of peer-pressure when making a decision Video: Hold me Back

LESSON 4 THE NEED OF SPEED?

A look into the physics of a high-speed impact vs a low speed one and understand how speed alters the outcome of a collision and how they, as the passenger, can reduce that risk Activity sheet: The Need of Speed Video: The Need of Speed

LESSON 1 TAKE A SECOND LEARNING OBJECTIVES - Look at how many simultaneous tasks a driver must perform and the dangers of distraction - Understand how young adults can avoid dangerous choices - Explore how passengers can influence driver behaviour Resources needed: Prepare the following resources before the lesson.

Activity sheet: Reaction timer Video: Take a Second

INTRODUCTION It can feel difficult to speak out when you are a young adult, especially when you are with peers or friends. No one wants to look ‘uncool’. But speaking out in different situations can keep you from danger, particularly when you make a choice to get in a car with a driver.

STARTER ACTIVITY Open the lesson by writing the word DISTRACTION on the board. Ask students to give you a definition of DISTRACTION. We have provided one for your reference: “A thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.”

Discuss, as a group, if distractions are annoying or if they can sometimes be welcome. Encourage students to give examples. Ask them to think about being in a lesson at school and create a list of distractions that they have experienced. What happens when they are distracted? Ultimately, they miss something that is being taught and have no idea how important it is because they were distracted. Discuss situations in which students think distractions can become dangerous.

Explain that in a car a driver is taking in information all the time, much like in a lesson, listening for different sounds, watching out for hazards, assessing speed as well as the physical requirements of driving ie turning the wheel, moving their feet for the pedals, changing gear.

All of which is challenging enough, now add a distraction on top of that and it could have very serious consequences.

Look at the list of distractions they made earlier, how many do they think are relevant to being a passenger in a car?

Take the Reaction timer activity sheet and follow the instructions.

Ask for a few volunteers. Repeat the activity with the same students while you distract them and compare their results. How much harder was it with distractions going on? Distraction is the biggest cause of road collisions in the UK. It could be as simple as reading a text, taking a call or even a passenger distracting the driver but it puts everyone in, and around, the car in danger.

Play the video Take a Second.

Put 1,072 on the board. Explain that this is the number of passengers killed or injured in road collisions every year in Sussex. Your ability to speak out as a passenger can really save lives, your own included.

Give students the following scenario: they are a passenger in a car and the driver picks up their mobile phone to read a text. In groups, ask students to briefly discuss what they think they could do or say to stop the driver being distracted by the text. Create a list of these strategies.

If prompts are needed some ideas below can help: - “My mum got six points and a fine for using her phone last week, she wasn’t happy” - “Would you like me to read that for you so you can see where we are going?”

- “Could you pull over, my dad just text and said I have to help him with the shopping”

EXTENSION ACTIVITY Explain that it is not just what you say to someone that changes their behaviour, but how you say it. Ask students to think about a time when they were told to do something and they know they reacted badly. For example, a parent asking them to put the phone or tablet away and they snapped or shouted back. Students don’t have to share the scenario, but ask them to discuss why they think they reacted like that. This is usually because of the ‘way’ they were told to do something rather than the actual words used. The same is true when asking a driver to change their behaviour.

Split the class into groups and give each group one of the strategies they created in the starter activity to work on.

Explain that each group should imagine they are in a car as a passenger, the driver is distracted and they begin to feel very unsafe. Using the strategy, improvise a scene between passenger and driver as the passenger starts to feel scared. Encourage students not to think too much about what to say but to go with their instincts.

Students should then come together to review how each ‘character’ felt in that scenario, if they felt attacked or aggressive or scared.

Now ask the groups to think about the best way to get the driver to comply with what the passenger is asking them to do - in a calm nonconfrontational way. If you snap, shout or come across as aggressive the situation could escalate.

Though it sounds very simple the best approach for the passenger, who is feeling scared, is to take a second to breathe, review the issue and strategies, and then ask a driver to put their phone down in a calm manner. Try playing with the language that they could use, for example, rather than say ‘You are being dangerous because you’re on your phone’ you could try ‘I feel a bit uncomfortable with you on the phone, would you mind putting it down while you are driving?’.

Display the following categories on the board: Words, Body language, Facial expressions, Confidence

Ask the groups to repeat the improvisation thinking about these four categories and what they can do in each that creates a calm situation.

Note how different the two approaches felt for the passenger and driver. Come together as a class and discuss their findings.

Speaking out can save lives. It is important to feel confident in doing so.

PLENARY It doesn’t matter whether a driver is experienced, like a parent, or inexperienced, like an older sibling. Distractions cause crashes. However, young drivers are involved in 690 road collisions in Sussex each year and most of that is due to their inexperience. It is vital to understand, that as passengers, you have a job to do to stay safe.

There are a number of things you can do: 1) If you are unsure of the driver or do not feel safe, you don’t have to get in the car in the first place 2) When you are in a car do not be a distraction yourself by respecting the driver’s concentration 3) Speak out about the driver’s behaviour if it makes you uncomfortable and remove yourself from the situation. For example, saying you are feeling sick and ask them to pull over to let you out so you aren’t sick in their car It is important to know as a passenger you have a choice. Take a second to review a situation. Take a deep breath and think about your safety.

ACTIVITY SHEET REACTION TIMER

HOW FAST CAN YOU REACT? 5

If you can’t do better than this be careful on the road.

4

Still a bit slow! You need to be quicker than this when driving.

3

2

1

Cut out both parts of this activity sheet.

Stick them to a piece of card, one on each side.

Fair to middling but always concentrate on your driving and keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

If you stop it here – twice in succession – you are among the top echelon of ‘ordinary’ drivers.

Probably only rally, racing and Police Class 1 drivers will regularly stop in this section.

QUICK BREAKING REACTION IS A VITAL DRIVING FACTOR

This simple test will give an indication of how fast your reaction is. Ask a friend to hold the card with the bottom edge 3in (8cm) above your slightly open thumb and forefinger. When the card is released, just close your finger and thumb – try to catch the card between them.

TEST YOUR REACTION SPEED

BY FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LEFT SIDE

LESSON 2 SEE STRAIGHT LEARNING OBJECTIVES - Learn the three D’s that contribute to road traffic collisions; Distraction, drink and drugs - Understand how impaired senses can impact the ability to focus on driving safely - Look at how careless driving is a big risk to passengers - Devise strategies to avoid being a passenger with a driver under the influence Resources needed: Prepare the following resources before the lesson.

Activity sheet: See Straight Video: See Straight

INTRODUCTION The three D’s stand for Distractions, Drink and Drugs. These are all factors in road traffic collisions that can kill or injure. If you have completed the lesson Take a Second recap the key learning points. If you have not completed the lesson Take a Second discuss with your students the types of distractions that can cause a driver to have their concentration broken from the road and how that can lead to a collision.

STARTER ACTIVITY Explain that we all take risks throughout life.

Some risks can’t be avoided such as the risk of choosing the right college or course type, a course sounds perfect but do you know it is 100% the right one for you? It is a risk, one that could end in a great future. If it isn’t the right one you can always change. And there are other types of risk, ones that could have a real impact on our lives if we choose to take them, such as getting in a car with a driver who is under the influence of drink or drugs.

It sounds an obvious risk to avoid, but people still get in a car with a driver under the influence.

Particularly young people. Discuss why students think young people are more likely to take risks.

Alcohol is a legal substance, the dangers of alcohol are well recorded and therefore what it physically does to a drinker is well known.

What do students think the difference is with illegal substances? Steer the discussion towards drugs having no standards to pass before being available. They can contain anything, unlike alcohol that has to pass a set of standards before being sold, and that means the physical effect of drugs on a person is impossible to predict.

Alcohol and drugs all affect our brain’s ability to process information and our reaction times. When they are combined the effects are dangerous and unpredictable.

In some situations they can make us feel almost invincible and that is not what you want a driver to feel when they are in charge of a car. It is worth noting that some drugs stay in the system even after the effects have worn off. A driver who had taken drugs a few days, or even weeks before, could be pulled over for any reason, tested by the police, and still be classified ‘under the influence’ by law.

Explain you are going to look at a timeline of some friends who have met up, one of them is a bit older and drives. If you have time or the space you can encourage students to improvise short scenes of the action. Hand out or display the activity sheet See Straight. Go through each stage of their journey giving students time to note what they would do in that situation before moving onto the next part. Review their ideas as a class.

Now watch the video See Straight on the impact of drink and drugs on our ability to drive.

Ask the class what they think they could do in a situation with a driver, who is under the influence of drink or drugs, to remove the risk from the situation. Remind them of some of the strategies given in the video and previous lessons. What reasons can they give for not getting in the car or how would they get out of the car if they discover the driver had been drinking? Collect their ideas and then offer the below to the class to discuss:

Agree with parents or carers, ahead of going out, a code phrase. This can be as simple as ‘Did you manage to get the blueberry muffins I like?’.

Agree that you will text that phrase if you find yourself in a dangerous or uncomfortable situation so they can call you back and arrange to come and get you.

This approach saves any worry that you look ‘uncool’ in front of friends because it appears your parents/carers are making you wait for them and it also keeps you safe. Even if you are out somewhere you should not be it is better that you get told off for that, than find yourself in a road traffic collision because of a bad choice.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY Being in charge of a car and having impaired senses is highly dangerous and can lead to life changing injuries and even death. Once you have watched the video See Straight repeat the timeline activity as a group. Ask students to review whether they would change their response in light of the video they have watched.

Ask for examples of why they would or would not change their responses.

By understanding and taking time to consider the risk vs the reward of each situation you can stay safer. In the timeline they used earlier, at each point in the story, you or Kayleigh could have taken a few seconds to consider the danger before proceeding. Pick one of the points in the story and look at the risk vs the reward. You can put these on the board and create a mind map of the students’ responses.

The rewards: Getting home faster Not being on public transport Not walking in the rain/bad weather The risks: The driver was impaired and therefore dangerous By drinking/taking drugs they are more likely to be the cause of a crash A fatal or life changing crash could occur It is very easy to believe it will never happen to ‘me’. 331 people a year are killed or injured in Sussex as a result of drink driving. That is just in Sussex, that isn’t even the whole of the UK. That is the equivalent of 11 classes at school. Ask students how that makes them feel about the choices they would make and how they would avoid being in a risky situation with a driver who is under the influence of drink or drugs.

Plenary No matter how confident or experienced a driver is, getting in a car with a driver under the influence is highly risky. And there is always an alternative. ‘Get your coat’, for example, is a free app that helps you travel plan, send location stamps to a chosen contact and even a quick search on other ways to get home. There is always another, safer, option.

As passengers we need to assess what is going to be best for us and make our own choices, ones that don’t increase the risk to ourselves. The risks should be managed and chosen. The only person who can do that is you.

ACTIVITY SHEET SEE STRAIGHT Setting the scene You and Kayleigh have been friends since Primary school and you know her older brother, Steve. You are off to a fireworks display where you are meeting other friends. Kayleigh tells you that Steve has passed his driving test a few weeks ago and has offered you both a lift.

Now you don’t have to get two buses in the freezing cold to get to the fireworks.

1

Timeline Steve arrives in his new car, actually it is quite an old car, but he looks so proud of it and it’s new to him.

2

Pulling away, Steve seems quite confident in his driving, he tells you all about his day at his new job where his work mates took him to the pub for lunch and a welcome drink. It was only a pint, and it was at lunch time.

3

On a rural road between towns, Steve starts picking up speed as Kayleigh turns up the radio. Dancing away to the songs.

4 5

6

7

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9

Steve’s girlfriend, Lauren, sends him a text and will be meeting him at the fireworks too.

Arriving at the fireworks, Steve parks on a grass verge on a main road. You agree to meet back at the car at 10pm. You and Kayleigh go off to meet your friends.

At 10:30 you are waiting by the car and Steve finally shows up with Lauren. You all get in ready for the journey home when it starts to rain really heavily.

10

11

Lauren wants to get a selfie with everyone in the car. You lean forward, Kayleigh and Lauren remove their seatbelts and come closer so everyone is in the picture.

Steve and Lauren explain they were by the bar with their friends all night and even missed the fireworks. Lauren says she managed to get hold of a joint from someone and is acting really silly – Steve says he only had a few puffs and doesn’t appear as hyper as Lauren.

Lauren turns up the radio and starts playing with the interior lights of the car pretending it is a strobe, dancing in her seat. She hasn’t put her seatbelt back on from the selfie.

Steve has increased his speed despite taking a longer route home through some small towns. You look over to see that he is doing 55mph and the speed limit is 30mph but there aren’t many other cars on the road.

As you are close to home there are blue lights flashing in the rear-view mirror and Steve pulls over.

LESSON 3 HOLD ME BACK LEARNING OBJECTIVES

STARTER ACTIVITY

- Understand the history and science of seatbelts - Look at the difference between an impact with and without a seatbelt - Explore how peerpressure can influence the choices made and the consequences of those choices Resource needed: Prepare the following resources before the class.

Video: Hold me Back

Ask the class what the first thing they do is when they get in a car. Encourage their answers towards putting on a seatbelt. There are loads of different safety measures in modern cars designed to keep us all safe, especially when compared with cars in the past, such as crush cages or roll bars and air bags. But the seatbelt is the most important safety aspect for keeping our whole body safe in a car.

INTRODUCTION Safety in cars is a fairly recent concept, seatbelts have come a long way since their invention, but people still take them off. Some of the surprising facts about seatbelts and in-car safety might make a passenger and driver think twice before removing a seatbelt, but sometimes people can be persuaded. And that situation can end very badly for all involved.

Play the video Hold me Back that explains about the history of seatbelts, some facts about why they are safe and the difference they can make in a collision.

After watching the video split the class into groups.

Write ‘Why would someone not wear a seatbelt?’ on the board. Explain that each group will be allocated one advert for seatbelt safety from the list below. Ask them analyse the advert, looking at what the main message is, if they think it is effective and who they think the advert it is aimed at. Remind students that everyone is influenced by different things so not one advert will work for everyone.

The adverts to use are below: SSRP Embrace life www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM Think – Julie knew her killer www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2aevh6oZ8 RSA Seatbelt www.youtube.com/watch?v=epTdI-9V6Jk Come back together and ask each group to give a presentation about their findings on their advert.

Discuss what they think an advert would need to say to capture their age groups attention on the importance of seatbelt safety. Brainstorm, as a group, what they think should be in an advert aimed at them.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

PLENARY

Knowing some of the facts about seatbelt safety, ask if anyone would take their seatbelt off for any reason now. Adjust the discussion by adding elements to the scenario such as: - You are in the car with friends (not your parents/carer) and one of them is not wearing a seatbelt - Your friends brother/sister is driving and tells you that you don’t need to wear it, they are a safe driver, and they seem to get angry when you say you’ll keep it on - Someone wants to take a selfie in the car and wants you to get closer into the shot

Understanding safety as a passenger is essential to staying safe in the car. The driver is in charge of the vehicle and the passenger is trusting them to keep them safe. As much as the driver has a responsibility so does the passenger to speak out if someone is not wearing their seatbelt. Being able to understand that the reward, of staying safe and alive, versus the risk of someone teasing you and ending up in a collision is key.

Add any of your own peer-pressure scenarios to enhance the discussion. Think back to the Hold me Back video about the dangers to everyone in a car is someone is not wearing a seatbelt.

All humans are programmed to avoid ‘negative bias’, our brains don’t like to say NO or disagree with peers. By saying YES, or doing as everyone else is doing, our brain releases a chemical that acts as an endorphin and makes us feel good.

So when we try and say NO our brain is actually trying to stop us doing that, no matter what the situation. Teens are more prone to negative bias because their brains are still developing. And this is why we can act without thinking something through properly, with potentially dangerous consequences.

Use one of the scenarios from the list they created as a class, think of strategies that you could use to tackle the peer-pressure of removing a seatbelt.

They can use a direct or indirect method. Ask them to come up with some example strategies for both. Direct could be ‘I don’t feel safe without it’ or an indirect strategy could be as simple as saying ‘I’m a nervous passenger’ or ‘Can we do the photo when we aren’t moving, I tend to get a bit travel sick’.

If you have done any of the other lessons in this project you can use this peer-pressure strategy to reference back to avoiding other dangers you have discussed, such as drunk drivers.

In order for these strategies to work it is essential that you are confident in the delivery and that it is done in a calm way. A stressful situation or arguing in a car is very likely to lead to a crash.

Remind students that they can take a breath, calm themselves and their minds before using the strategies they have come up with.

LESSON 4 THE NEED OF SPEED? LEARNING OBJECTIVES - Understand the physics of a road traffic collision - Explore the impact speed has on survival of an incident - Look at who is affected by a crash Resources needed: Prepare the following resources before the lesson.

Activity sheet: The Need of Speed Video: The Need of Speed

INTRODUCTION A driver controls the speed of the car. Everyone in the car is their responsibility. A few more miles per hour over the speed limit can make a big difference to the outcome of a journey, and the passengers.

STARTER ACTIVITY Open the class by asking students what they think speeding is. Speed limits are set for safety and to help traffic flow. Different types of roads have different speed limits. Ask if anyone knows why that might be. Explain that most urban roads are 30mph, some are even 20mph, explore if students think urban roads could be 70mph, like motorways. You want to steer their answers towards the negative because of less space and more people being around in an urban setting.

On an urban road a driver is much more likely to have to stop suddenly to avoid a hazard, like a pedestrian or another car backing out of a driveway. The faster a car is going the longer it takes a car to stop, so in a busier area, with more hazards, the faster the car, the more likely the driver is going to be unable to stop in time to avoid a collision. Also it is unlikely you actually reach your destination quicker when speeding. In an urban environment all of the junctions, lights and crossings will still require a driver to stop. By speeding a driver saves seconds, not minutes.

Display the first sheet of The Need of Speed on the board. Ask students to work in groups to decide how much they think the increase in speed matters and what reasons a driver may have for the increased speed. Collect their answers and their reasons. Now ask how easy students think it is to be aware of the speed a car is going. What might stop a driver being aware of their speed?

In order to understand the impact of speeding you have to understand stopping distances. Play the video The Need of Speed that looks at the physics of stopping distances. You will need to pause halfway through when you see the title slide Crash Science. The rest of the video is completed in the extension activity.

Now display the second page of activity sheet The Need of Speed. Remind students that at 30mph it takes a car around 23 metres to stop or the equivalent length of two buses – if the driver is paying attention and focused on the road. If a driver increases their speed by 1mph to 31mph, after 23 metres that car is still travelling at 8mph.

Do students think that increase matters? Ask what damage they think that 8mph could do to a pedestrian that was hit. The chances of a fatality are less than 10% but it is still there. Now imagine if it was small child who is smaller and lighter.

The risk increases. Do they think any driver would want to take that risk?

Reference back to the reasons they gave for speeding. Using what they now know, do they think any of these excuses are valid? Ask if any students think it is worth speeding.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

PLENARY

Play the rest of the video The Need of Speed that is on the science of a crash in a vehicle.

Speed kills. Speed changes lives. By understanding the real risk involved passengers can influence drivers, and others, to weigh up those risks. As passengers, you have a right to say if you feel uncomfortable. It could save your life.

Ask students to imagine they are a passenger in a car and they know the driver is speeding.

After watching the video, how do they think they would feel? Discuss how they, as passengers, could do something about it. Look at different strategies to try to get a driver to slow down or even stop to let you out. If you have not used the other lessons, reference Lesson 1 Take a Second extension activity for ideas on how to create and deliver strategies. You can also use the video Take a Second to explore possible strategies to stay safe in a car.

Discuss the different types of drivers that people feel safe with vs those they don’t. They would feel safe with a parent but not with a novice driver.

Explain that though the risk of collisions is reduced with more experienced drivers, they do not decrease the impact of speed on a collision.

Explore together, by creating a mind map on the board, of who is affected by a road traffic collision.

Divide the map into two sections, one for the driver and passengers in the car and one for the pedestrian/s they hit or that witness the crash.

The list should include the emergency service personnel that attend the scene, family, friends and the local community, such as a school.

The decision to get in a car is with the passenger but the impact of a crash is much much wider than just them. Once in the car, the passenger has a right to feel safe. The higher the speed the more likely a crash could happen.

ACTIVITY SHEET THE NEED OF SPEED

32 80

ACTIVITY SHEET THE NEED OF SPEED

30 mph

31 mph

Stopping distance 23 metres

Stopping distance 23 metres

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mph

8

mph