The four lead actors for this year’s Mock Crash performance have been announced following a lot of interest in the auditions.
The four actors for the NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program are Kaitlyn Stevenson from Parkes, Shaylee Edwards and Amelia Barwick from Peak Hill and Zak Chatman from Parkes who returns for another round.
“We had a lot of interest in the recent auditions. Casting was very difficult as everyone was very talented,” said Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor. “Whilst there are only four roles available for the mock crash scenario, we offered the others roles in the establishing scenes.”
The program is aimed at Year 10 students and more than 5,000 from across the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council areas have participated in it since its inception 12 years ago.
“The program aims to show young drivers what can and does happen far too often on our local roads. It challenges them to think about their attitudes and behaviour as not only drivers but also as passengers.
“Over the last 12 years we have recorded a 27% decrease in crashes on local roads involving a young driver (17 – 25 years old),” Melanie said.
Following two years of COVID disruption, this year’s mock crash is going to be developed into a training package.
The crash scenario will be recorded and the video will replace the live mock crash demonstration for this year.
The video will become a resource so the program can be implemented in other areas and will be used as a back-up option for future years’ live demonstrations.
The video will premiere early October before being rolled out in local schools during term four.
The usual live demonstration will return in 2023.