The Rotary Youth Driver Awareness project, held at the Dubbo Showground, offers a series of workshops to challenge students and the way they think about road safety.

More than 500 students take part in the course, which includes presentations from Dubbo police, a crash victim and driving instructor Greg Reichart.

Mr Reichart has been involved with RYDA for the past 15 years and loves seeing the interest from the students. He said while the teenagers usually knew how to drive, it was their attitude behind the wheel that the program wanted to improve.

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"Nothing is going to change unless people get out there and impart this knowledge on the kids," Mr Reichart said.

One of the main messages the driver instructor wanted to convey was the difference in braking times when driving at 50 kilometres per hour and 40km/h in a school zone.

He demonstrates it by slamming on the brakes in front of a dummy.

"The visual and the sound effects of the start of the braking and the sound the dummy makes when it's hit has a great impact on the students," Mr Reichart said.

Students from fourteen schools in took part in the RYDA program.