The multinational Groupama has been using PowerVote's audience polling systems for raising the road safety awareness of secondary school students in France.
Learning to drive before the legal age does not have to pose a problem if done in a pedagogical way, as many French teenagers aged from 14-18 have been doing for years. Thanks to the road accident prevention programmes “10 de Conduite Jeune” and “10 de Conduite Rurale”, sponsored by Groupama in collaboration with Renault SA, Total and the National Gendarmerie, and Claas, Total and the Companies for Republican Security, respectively, French teenagers can learn how to drive safely both in the country and in town.
The chief aim of the programme “10 de Conduite Jeune” is to raise the awareness of youngsters as regards the main risks on the road, introduce them to the Highway Code, and initiate them in best driving practices. Likewise, the objective of “10 de Conduite Rurale” is to teach teenagers how to drive agricultural vehicles in a safe way.
Audience polling systems as technical support
The teaching method of both programmes designed by Groupama is updated on a regular basis. The use of audience polling systems in these training programmes helps to liven up theory classes, according to Marc Lebotlan, the company’s head of prevention.
The class rooms are equipped with a slide projector and videos on the subject matter: the Highway Code, legal and insurance information, as well as the different risks posed by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and speeding. PowerVote’s audience polling system is used to evaluate the students’ knowledge. Sitting in front of a video screen, they have between 20-25 seconds to reply to a series questions so as to check their level of knowledge on the subject.
Unlike adult target groups who use these interactive systems for training purposes, teenagers take naturally to these tools. According to Groupama’s Head of Prevention, this is because “on being an adolescent audience accustomed to using consoles, games and other types of remote control units, the system’s voting pads have a favourable reception. In his opinion, unlike other methods, this interactive system is “more didactic and rewarding.”
Advantages
Likewise, Lebotlan also acknowledges that one of the chief advantages of the system developed by PowerVote is its user-friendliness once its workings have been adequately explained. But he does not try to hide the fact that it is a fragile tool that requires proper maintenance and, above all, “care and attention on the part of the users.”
From nearly five years now, Groupama has been using audience polling systems to develop its town and country driving programmes. “We found the system on the Internet, with help from our companions from the computer systems department entrusted with the development of a management tool for both programmes,“ Lebotlan says.
