Out of the current cohort of Year 12 students from Corowa and Rutherglen, two are likely to die on the road in the next couple of years, according to Corowa Sergeant Steve Marshall.

That was the harsh, real-life message delivered to students at the Cool Heads young driver program last Wednesday.

Anden Ross and Faith O’Donoghue from Rutherglen High School agreed that the program was beneficial and highlighted how bad things can get in a car crash.

“You don’t realise how quickly someone’s life can be taken,” Faith said.

“My mum was in a car crash when she was a teenager where the car flipped six times; I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t survive.”

Anden has had his driver’s license for little more than five months and has witnessed the first-hand the effects a car crash can have.

“My brother has been in two crashes already and he’s only 20,” Anden said.

“He wasn’t at fault either time, but he was scared to get back behind the wheel after that.”

Vicki McDougall started the Don’t Text and Drive Foundation after her daughter, Brooke Richardson, died in a single car crash 12 years ago while on her way to work from Wahgunyah.

Brooke’s death was the first death recorded in Victoria resulting from mobile phone texting while driving.

Vicki spoke at Cool Heads of the trauma she lived through following Brooke’s death and said that no parent should have to bury their child.

“I asked myself last year if this issue was still relevant,” Vicki said.

“It is still relevant, because it’s still happening.

“All our lives are busy, but if we don’t stop and take the time to consider our actions those actions could be our last.

“Brooke had gotten away with texting and driving so many times and she was fine, nothing bad had happened.

“But that text she sent was the last thing she ever did.

“After her crash I decided that people needed to know; using your phone while driving is just not worth it.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, and I beg you not to do that to your parents.”

Texting while driving is one of the leading causes of road crashes involving young drivers, accounting for 22 per cent of total crashes.

Corowa High School’s Harper Connel said the Cool Heads program made her think twice about when to use her phone.

“My phone is pretty important, but I won’t be using it behind the wheel,” Harper said.

“One mistake is not worth your life.”

Lachie Ireland, also from Corowa High, is on his L plates and said it feels good to get behind the wheel and learn to drive.

“One of the things that stuck with me was just how serious injuries can be,” Lachie said.

More than 50 students from the two schools gathered for the program which was started 16 years ago by Corowa High School teacher Deb Filliponi and former Rutherglen Sergeant Brian Curren.

Cool Heads aims to change the attitudes of young drivers in their early years behind the wheel to prevent road crashes from happening.

The two-hour presentation began with real-life footage from an incident in Victoria last year that resulted in the death of a teenage boy, and closed with the 2010 TAC Christmas campaign to the soundtrack of REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’.

The theme continued throughout, with speakers from Corowa and Rutherglen police, Corowa VRA, Federation RFS and paramedics leading a graphic and emotionally charged event with a single message: “don’t be a d**kh**d behind the wheel”.

“It’s not always deaths, it’s also the injuries you can get and the effect it has on the people around you,” Ms Filliponi said.

“Brian and I started the program 16 years ago because of his desire to get something started in this cross-community between Corowa and Rutherglen.

“We’ve seen these things happen in our community and we want to change that.”

Ms Filliponi said two thirds of the emergency personnel who turned up to speak at Cool Heads were local.

They’ve grown up here, they work here, they volunteer here, and their message is simple.

Know the risks, reduce the risks, and obey the law, because everybody hurts.

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Sunday, 20th May 2029

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