For secondary school levels:
- s4
Passenger decision making and avoiding hazards
To encourage young people to speak up when in a potentially dangerous situation.
Learning objectives
Collisions on our roads remain one of the main causes of accidental deaths among children and young people in Scotland. This resource has been developed to help equip students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to make positive choices on and around our roads.
By the end of Lesson 4, students will be able to identify what might be a dangerous situation, describe the Fatal 5, and develop a range of tools to challenge driver behaviour.
Find all downloadable resources below.
Overview
One of the most important safety features in a car is your voice. Speak up when you’re in a potentially dangerous situation or when you feel uncomfortable in a car.
Activity 1
What are the Fatal 5 causes of road accidents? – 5 mins
Either by giving pairs/small groups a post it note, or using mentimeter wordcloud ask students to write down what they think are the 5 biggest causes of fatal collisions in Scotland?
- Careless driving
- Drink / drug driving
- Not wearing a seatbelt
- Distractions
- Speeding
Activity 2
What keeps you from speaking up in the car? (SPEAK UP scenarios) – 20 mins
What are the most common behaviours from drivers that passengers find concerning? Speeding, loud music, over taking, showing off, playing with phone/texting, generally distracted, under the influence.
Introduce the SPEAK UP acrostic – go through each one and explain what is meant.
Say when the driver is making you feel scared or uncomfortable
Police – mention that you’ve seen lots driving around to encourage the driver to change their behaviour
Experience – tell a personal story about someone you know or have read about.
Can be a real or made up story
Avoid getting into a car with someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Kindness – offer to help the driver change the songs or map the journey so the driver can focus on the road
UP
Downloadable materials
Explore the downloadable materials for this lesson, including a PDF outline for quick reference, a PowerPoint presentation, and supplementary videos that bring the content to life.