VS Leopold took part in an ÖAMTC course.
Dornbirn. The ÖAMTC Dornbirn safety training course “Hallo Auto!” recently offered a welcome and, above all, extremely exciting change in everyday school life for the third graders of the VS Leopold.
Snjzana Crnjac from the ÖAMTC (driving technique) invited to a clear traffic education with many valuable tips about the program focus “Raising awareness of dangers in road traffic”. This training is specially designed for children aged eight to nine years.
For 35 years, the formula “Reaction distance + braking distance = stopping distance” has been worked out together with the children through self-awareness at “Hallo Auto”. “The children see and feel that even emergency braking does not bring the car to a standstill immediately. A vital insight when it comes to independently managing the way to school,” explains Crnjac. The Leopold children also found out what their own braking distance looks like during a race and suddenly stopped and noticed that the speed, the condition of the ground and the soles of the shoes have a major influence on it. When they stopped in response to an optical signal, they experienced that they needed time to react and that they still had to cover a distance – the reaction route – in this time.
Experience yourself in the car
After the theory, the big highlight came, for which all the students were already waiting impatiently – to put what they had learned into practice with a car and to bring it to a standstill themselves. So that the children could feel that a vehicle cannot come to a standstill immediately, even when the driver exerts the greatest effort, everyone was allowed to brake the car to a standstill themselves, properly secured with the appropriate restraint device, using a specially installed brake pedal on the passenger side under supervision. “This experience should help the children move much more cautiously in traffic,” says the ÖAMTC expert. The enthusiastic reactions of the elementary school students after the course showed that this mission had probably been a success, including the important realization that formulas can sometimes even save lives. (cth)
