Road Safety Education Centre (RSEC) at Motor Transport Institute

Taking into account the fact that Poland is one of the leading countries in the European Union in terms of the number of road accident victims and the fact that education in the field of road safety is one of the key elements to protect the health and life of citizens, it was decided to develop Road Safety Education Centre (RSEC) at Motor Transport Institute. The idea of creating educational centres where visitors take part in practical and experimental classes, is currently popular. The RSEC pilot scheme was conducted in years 2016-2019 and starting from 2021, by the order of the Motor Transport Institute Director, RSEC was appointed as a special team.

The purpose of establishing RSEC was to provide knowledge in a more effective (than traditional) and attractive form, shaping skills and influencing the attitudes of road users through the implementation of high-quality classes in the field of road safety, addressed and adapted to the needs of various groups of participants: primary school pupils (3 age categories), high school students, university level students and senior citizens (OAPs).

In addition to the educational and recreational function of RSEC, it also plays a research role, i.e. various educational solutions are being tested in it, their impact on attitudes and behaviour are examined, the participants' needs are defined, their approach to various road safety issues, e.g. bicycle license, traffic safety education.

The indirect goal is to strengthen the widely understood road safety education.

The aims of the Centre's activity are:

• organising, participating and conducting educational and research events,
• disseminating knowledge in the field of road safety, its promotion, increasing social awareness  and influencing motivation of road participants to be safe and responsible in traffic,
• supporting and complementing school curricula at different stages of education and non-formal education of children, youth and adults,
• cooperation with education / road safety entities,
• expanding the educational base in the field of road safety,
• promoting the idea of life-long learning.

The innovation of the RSEC lies in the fact that the conducted classes are tailored to the needs of recipients in terms of subject matter, duration and number of participants. They are divided into the theoretical part (mini-lecture with the use of activating methods) and the practical part (with the use of, among the others, a rollover and seat belts simulators, the so-called "elephant test" weight scale, air bag detonator, elderly feelings simulator, alcohol- and narco-goggles, mini-helmets, reflective materials, devices to exercise reflex).

Creation of a unit similar to RSEC requires facilities, a base of devices for practical classes and demonstrations, but also well trained staff with knowledge of road safety and teaching. RSEC classes can be tailored to the needs of the audience in terms of subject matter, duration and number of participants – such flexible approach means that classes conducted outside the RSEC headquarters can be conducted in various conditions.

So far, several hundred people have participated in the RSEC classes.

The RSEC pilot scheme was run in 2016-2019. In 2021, by the order of the ITS Director, RSEC was appointed as a special team that will undertake education related tasks within the RSEC according to the current needs.

The RSEC activities to date and its achievements have been promoted during various events on education and road safety, i.e. conferences, seminars, local, national and international events, as well as in the form of social media messages and popular science and specialized publications.

The RSEC team was involved in running national (e.g. Young Explorer's University) and European projects (e.g. European Road Safety Tunes, ERASMUS+ KROS), as well as occasional initiatives, e.g. scientific picnics, presentations.

Dissemination of the results of research conducted under RSEC and the training offer is carried out in several ways: information on the RSEC website www.cebr.edu.pl, in social media, published materials and oral presentations.

Within the pilot implementation of RSEC, Focus Group Interviews were conducted among the students and their parents which showed that the idea of organising classes at the Road Safety Education Centre was received positively. The practical part of the classes was found to be particularly attractive. Learning through own experience was seen as more effective. The organization of activities outside normal school environment by a specialised unit was indicated as an additional value.

The classroom classes at RSEC are evaluated by participants. Their comments are a valuable source of information for improvements. Moreover, the participants of the classes constitute a discussion group on various issues related to road safety, and the results of these conversations constitute a reference point for the further initiatives.

Each class is evaluated in several aspects: the degree of meeting the expectations of the participant, the assessment of the impact on the participant's behaviour, the degree of expanding the topic of the class, the attractiveness of theoretical and practical parts, assessment of the accessibility of the content, the most interesting / least interesting elements, atmosphere. All these elements so far have been evaluated well and very well.