An alarming 27 percent increase in young drivers involved in fatal car crashes from 2019 to 2021 convinced the Georgia Department of Transportation develop new long-term educational safety programming for school-age children to instill safer habits and practices around vehicles, when behind the wheel, on bicycles, and on foot from a very young age. In partnership with the “We Are Teachers” organization, Georgia DOT launched “Keep Georgia Safe” or KGS – a K-12 transportation safety curriculum made available to teachers and schools statewide for free. With special emphasis on students ages nine through 16, KGS materials focus on many aspects of road safety whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle or on foot; they incorporate seatbelt use, avoiding distractions, being a good passenger and bicycle safety. Games and materials can also be accessed outside the classroom via a publicly accessible website at http://www.GARoadSafety.com. While the Georgia DOT acknowledges it may take years to fully understand the curriculum’s impact—or how many young lives have been saved as a result—it remains committed to providing lesson plans, workbooks, videos, and games that are easily accessible and engaging for K–12 students in the classroom. Costing $2 million, the development of the curriculum and materials is 10 percent funded by the agency’s Highway Safety Improvement Program dollars funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. While not conceived as an economic driver, certainly KGS has its economic benefits too; both the economic and emotional costs of losing too many young people each year will be reduced over time as safety lessons take hold with this generation.
