Created in 2019 to try to stem the problem of road safety in Saint-Martin through education, the association "SXM road safety" signed an agreement with the National Education last November.
Since then, 300 primary school students have been trained in road safety with a view to awarding them their First Road Education diploma at the end of their cycle (CM2). This training, subsidized by city policy, is aimed at CE2, CM1 and CM2 students and consists of six hours of theory and two of practice during which they learn the basics of the highway code.
While three schools in the Quartier d'Orléans and Sandy-Ground were priorities, this partnership now concerns five other schools located in Concordia, Marigot and Grand-Case. By the end of March the Sandy-Ground students will also have completed their training and then the Concordia students will come.
"We will have completed our mission in four schools before the summer of 2021" suggests Thierry Verres, president of the association. A former gendarme, he noted the lack of training of young people on the island who are very keen on two-wheelers, leading to dangerous behavior on the road. All the more so when this bad behavior is combined with the consumption of drugs and / or alcohol. “We have identified the problem and are now trying to provide answers,” he concludes.
"The education code specifies that the teaching of road safety rules is provided in the first and second degrees and is compulsorily part of the timetables and programs in force in public educational establishments", recalls an October 2016 circular from the Ministry of National Education to the various education stakeholders (rector, school directors, etc.). “Unfortunately, in Saint-Martin, this teaching of road safety rules in schools started with us,” regrets the president of the SXM road safety association. “Today's teens haven't had any and are doing anything on the road, even if that doesn't excuse their behavior,” he adds.
Previously, to drive a two-wheeler (<50 cm3) from the age of 14, college students took the BSR free of charge at school. But since 2013, the BSR has been replaced by the AM license, the cost of which is considerable (around 350 €) which may explain why, even if it is compulsory, many young people do not have it.
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