Our school was chosen to do a project on traffic safety. Our teams raised awareness of traffic conduct via a film, a game, and a presentation. People in traffic not only endanger themselves when acting irresponsibly, but the safety of others as well.
The ideas
Our students considered that using mobile phones while driving is a very serious and relevant issue everywhere around the world. The Safety Agency in Serbia says that almost every fifth traffic accident is related to mobile phone use. In addition, the most serious problem is drunk driving. Even with strict traffic penalties a lot of people, especially younger ones, will get in a car and drive even when they are not capable of it.
After some research and a short analysis, we saw that in 2015 there were 501 more road deaths - that’s 55 more people - than in 2014.
Our idea was to draw people’s attention to this problem with a presentation and a short movie.
The initiatives
As soon as we were given the chance to participate in this traffic safety and mobility project our class started brainstorming. We had various ideas on how to illustrate dangerous behaviors and their consequences to other people. First, we organized several teams to work on a game, a movie and a presentation about traffic safety and mobility.
One team worked on an application to match together traffic signs and the correct combinations. We made a game where you have to guess at randomly given combinations of traffic signs. You have six attempts, but you also have help. Green lights show you the right signs in the right place and red ones show the signs which are not in the right place. A lot of younger kids and professors considered this game useful because it teaches traffic signs while having fun.
Another team gave a presentation on traffic safety. They presented facts about irresponsible and dangerous behavior, consuming alcohol and driving. The goal of the presentation was to raise awareness of traffic safety. The presentation was given in a few elementary schools to younger pupils, as well as at our school to students our age.
Finally, our last team was in charge of making a movie. Almost everyone - even those from the other teams - participated in making it. The movie is about a young guy who is very good at basketball and who has the opportunity to play for a bigger and better team. There is another guy who is drinking beer at a bar with his friends and then gets in his car and begins talking on his mobile phone while driving. The driver hits the first guy and ruins his future forever. In this way, we demonstrated what often happens in traffic if you don’t pay attention. Our short movie was given attention in a local newspaper, and shown on a local television program where our team was interviewed.
We truly hope we have raised many students’ awareness when they are on the road.
