For five Georgian College Traffic Management students, a course assignment turned into an opportunity to see their lessons come to life. Students in the Georgian College Traffic Management Course, taught by Barrie Police Service Staff Sergeant Linda Moorhouse were given an assignment to come up with a social media campaign to address one of the big four factors in motor vehicle collisions: impaired driving, inattentive driving, aggressive driving and lack of seatbelt use.
The campaigns were reviewed by a Barrie Police Service panel and the winning group was presented with certificates from Chief Kimberley Greenwood, as well as given the opportunity to join Traffic Officers on the road to witness traffic issues first-hand.
The group’s campaign tackled the issue of inattentive or distracted driving as they felt it was the biggest issue amongst their demographic. The group’s slogan “#OhDontDoIt is meant to bring a bit of humour to the issue, and remind their peers that distracted driving poses significant risks to themselves and others on the road.
With tweets like “Don’t do it for the Gram, do it for the Fam #OhDontDoIt” and “Just because you have a smart phone, doesn’t mean it’s smart to txt and drive” the @ProjectODDI aims to make followers laugh, but also learn and change their behaviour.
The group also developed a poster, and a series of videos to reinforce their message.
The Traffic Management Course is part of the Police Foundations Course at Georgian College.
Congratulations to the winning group, and thank you to all students for your contributions to improving road safety.
