National Conference of Road Safety Educators Held in Fortune

The Guardian - [date] - Fortune, PEI

WOMAN WITH PLAQUE - Louise MacDonald, president of Abegweit Driving School Ltd. was honoured this week with an award by the Road Safety Educators Association of Canada, recognizing her efforts in furthering goals and objectives of the association.

This year's national conference of the Road Safety Educators Association of Canada took place in Fortune thanks to the efforts of Louise MacDonald, president of Abegweit Driving School Ltd.

The national conference and workshop is an annual event that has not been held outside of Toronto for the past 12 years. MacDonald's efforts changed that this week when the group of educators, government officials and other experts in road safety made the trip to Fortune for a downhome conference experience Island style.

Not only did MacDonald being the two day event to the small Maritime province, she conducted both the workshops and the conference at the local community hall in Fortune, and fed participants at Eastern Kings' newest and most acclaimed restaurant "The Sheltered Harbour Cafe" that makes its home at the local Ultramar station.

"It turned out to be a fantastic move, and everybody loved it," said MacDonald.

The workshop section of the event focused on the role of cognition and perception in relation to driving. "In other words, we spent time on looking at how the eyes work (perception), and how the brain interprets what the eyes see (cognition)," she said.

"For example, as drivers we may look in the environment for specific objects such as a car coming, but because the brain is asking specifically at that time for cars it may, in fact, fail to recognize a moter cycle coming," she said.

The conference itself looked at new developments in road safety education for graduates of programs. Examples include a variety of packages such as "teenSmart" now available for graduates of driver's Ed courses promoting good and ongoing driving practice through a series of rewards.

Barb Wentworth, cycling safety officer for the City of Toronto, reviewed methods of teaching novice drivers how to operate in the same environment as cyclists. "This is particularly important when it comes to PEI because of the huge increase in cyclists in the province," she said.

MacDonald was surprised with a special award from the national Association of Road Safety Educators of Canada, recognizing her efforts in furthering goals and objectives of the association.

Facilitator of the conference was Sue MacNeil, who is the only person in Canada with a disciplinary degree in road safety education and injury prevention. Also presenting were Mary Skirrow, president of the Road Safety Association, John Svensson, president of the Driving School Association of Ontario, and Wilfred MacDonald, senior safety officer with Highway Safety Division of PEI.