📰 Independent Evaluation Confirms Ryda’s Critical Role in Keeping Young People Safe on Our Roads
Road Safety Education Limited (RSE) is proud to share the results of a major independent evaluation confirming that our flagship youth road safety program, Ryda, is a model of best-practice education for senior high school students.
The evaluation, conducted by MAIC-QUT Road Safety Research Collaboration (formerly CARRS-Q) and funded through the Queensland Government’s Community Road Safety Grants scheme, found that Ryda is professionally delivered, evidence-based, and fundamentally aligned with best-practice principles in road safety education.
“This evaluation gives us confidence that Ryda is not only engaging students but also standing up to the highest standards of educational design and delivery,” said Maria Lovelock, CEO. “This isn’t just another school workshop – integrating classroom learning and embedding proven pedagogies and robust evaluation processes, Ryda is the life-saving education that every teenager deserves.”
🔎 The evaluation
The aim of the evaluation was to map Ryda’s curriculum against the literature (Transport for Main Roads Good Practice Guidelines for Road Safety Education, the Kraiger Model, Goals for Driver Education framework, and leading theories of behaviour prediction (eg intentions and willingness)); review Ryda’s existing evaluation tools to determine their effectiveness; and conduct process reviews of Ryda’s delivery as well as RSE’s monitoring and revision of the program.
The evaluation concluded that Ryda is:
- Evidence-aligned: Comprehensive mapping confirmed strong alignment with established behaviour change models, pedagogical frameworks, and government guidelines.
- Well-delivered: Observations of workshops found facilitation to be engaging and professional, with students demonstrating active participation and increased road safety awareness.
- Supported by schools: 98% of teachers reported satisfaction with Ryda, with organising teachers consistently reporting that Ryda links with their school’s broader wellbeing and personal development initiatives.
- Governed for quality: RSE’s governance structures, including its Advisory Council, were recognised for ensuring continuous improvement and responsiveness to feedback.
The evaluation also highlighted Ryda’s strong engagement with students and teachers, its robust facilitator training, and RSE’s commitment to continuous improvement through its governance and quality assurance processes — confirming the program’s effectiveness in helping young people develop the knowledge, attitudes, and strategies they need to be safe drivers and passengers.
Dr Neale Kinnear of Affective Mobility and a member of RSE’s Advisory Council said, “This independent report supports Ryda as being well-structured, professionally delivered and fundamentally aligned with the latest evidence and best-practice principles. It is particularly heartening to see the program’s ability to engage students, equip them with practical, life-saving strategies, and foster a genuine sense of responsibility as road users. It is a privilege to contribute to an organisation deeply committed to continuous improvement and dedicated to its ultimate mission: making our roads a safer place for all young people.”
RSE’s commitment to continuous improvement is central to Ryda’s success, according to Dr Amanda Stephens from the Monash University Accident Research Centre, who also serves on the Advisory Council.
“The Ryda program stands out not just for its alignment with best-practice road safety education, but for the heart behind it,” Dr Stephens said. “RSE staff bring a genuine passion to helping young people become the safest drivers they can be. They achieve this through a holistic approach that supports young people to be safe drivers through awareness, understanding, and real-world relevance.”
The diagram below illustrates how the Ryda program mapped against the Queensland Government’s Good Practice Guidelines (1).
*Pre-Ryda workshops are completed before workshop and not designed, expected nor should be required to address all risks outlined in TMR Good Practice Guidelines, Kraiger et al. Learning Outcomes Model, or GDE framework.
The mapping showed not only where Ryda content addressed each key area, but also where students self-generated strategies they could realistically apply—approaches they found relevant, achievable, and within their control. From the report: “Evidence has well-established that it is critical to not only provide strategies but to also ensure the strategies are perceived as useful and able to be implemented.”
About the Guidelines
Developed by Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, the Good Practice Guidelines for Road Safety Education set the evidence-based standards for quality road safety learning in schools. Grounded in international research, they align closely with best-practice frameworks across Australia and New Zealand—meaning Ryda’s strong results in Queensland reflect standards recognised throughout both countries.
🧠Where to from here
Since its inception, Ryda has reached almost 900,000 students across Australia and New Zealand, empowering them to make safer choices and preparing them for a lifetime of responsible road use.
We have already embedded the learnings from the evaluation into Ryda 6.0, strengthening content, delivery, and resources to ensure the program remains contemporary, evidence-based and supportive of government initiatives. Our commitment to continuous improvement is driven by a simple truth — in a crowded school curriculum, learning time is precious, and road safety is too important to deliver anything less than our best.
We thank the members of the research team who brought a wealth of expertise and dedication to the evaluation project; Professor Ioni Lewis, Dr David Rodwell, Dr Sherrie-Anne Kay, Nyree Gordon and Emeritus Professor Barry Watson who served as an expert advisor to the project.Â
We also gratefully acknowledge the team from Queensland Government’s Community Road Safety Grants scheme who funded the project with a goal to ensure the projects they support meet their objectives – employing appropriate pedagogies; building a positive road safety culture; aligning with the guidelines; providing broad participant access; implementing continuous improvement and ultimately contributing to a reduction in deaths and serious injuries.
(1) QLD Good Practice Guidelines – https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/61bd2512-24fb-4d71-9d5a-1ac52f9e863c/resource/630b997b-81d6-4d5d-9dd9-228af36ca797/download/road-safety-grant-guide-16-to-24-years.pdf
