The secondary school survey was conducted by VIC ROADS to establish the extent to which traffic safety education has been included in the activities of Victorian secondary schools. Since 1978 VIC ROADS has been involved in the development of traffic safety curriculum units for use in Victorian schools. The program development has continued as a result of long term government support underlined through the report of the Working Party on Traffic Safety Education (1984) and the First Report of the Inquiry into Child Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety (1987). The aim of the programs are to encourage children to adopt safer forms of behaviour in the short term and develop more responsible attitudes to road usage in the longer term. Results indicated that 88% of schools taught at least one Traffic Safety Education (TSE) topic at some level and that 86% of schools incorporated TSE issues into at least one subject in the curriculum. Therefore, between eighty-six to eighty-eight percent of Victorian secondary schools address some TSE issues. The most popular method of TSE instruction was the component method with 43% of respondents indicating that they used this method.
Abstract