Youth-led Road-safety Group to Present at National Conference

A youth road-safety advocacy group has been selected to present a paper at the Canadian Multi-disciplinary Road Safety Conference this month.

The Nova Scotia Road Safety Youth Committee was started in 2008 by co-chairs Jennifer Heatley and Catherine Kennedy to bring more awareness of road safety to youth.

"We saw an opportunity to create awareness on the issue of youth road safety and provide a youth voice to public policy," said Ms. Kennedy.

Every year, an average of 28 people, age 15 to 30, are killed on Nova Scotia roads. Motor vehicle crashes are a major cause of death, injury and disability for youth and often preventable.

"We're very honoured to be selected to present our paper at the conference," said Ms. Heatley. "And we're excited to share our experiences and hopefully inspire others to use a similar model to engage youth in road safety."

The conference, in Saskatoon, June 7-10, unites professionals in research, management and delivery of road safety programs in Canada.

The Nova Scotia Road Safety Youth Committee is a sub-committee of Nova Scotia's Road Safety Advisory Committee, which is made up of professionals from enforcement, government, education and engineering. Anyone between the ages of 15 to 30 is welcome to join the committee by e-mailing nsyouthroadsafety@gmail.com .