Gaining a provisional licence is a rite of passage - mum and dad are no longer there to help with decision-making.

With a view to assisting young drivers during this critical period, more than 400 Year 11 students attended the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Course held at the Armidale Ex-Services Club last week.

They were presented with some sobering images by police officers Paul Caldwell and Jo Habgood.

“We are highlighting the factors relating to major traffic crashes - drink driving, not wearing seatbelts, fatigue and using the phone while driving,” Senior Constable Caldwell said.

For Duval High School students Amelia Burke and James Birmingham, the confronting images had the desired effect.

“We learnt how to be better drivers and that often it is other people on the road who aren’t safe,” Amelia said.

For James, the main message was to slow down.

“I think I’ll be a lot slower and safer on the road and more careful at parties,” he said.

Rotary’s Tim Roe said the program is gaining acceptance as a crucial lesson in driver safety for young drivers.