Hello, and welcome to this explainer about Riley Via. My name is Mark Nolan and I created Riley… I don´t mean that in an egotistical, “I made you what you are today young lady”, sort of way. I mean I literally created her.
Riley Via is a figment of my imagination and creativity. Okay, so now I am sounding a little bit crazy, so let me explain who Riley Via really is, by first explaining who I am!
My name is Mark Nolan, as you hopefully already know from the opening paragraph, and I am part of the N332 Road Safety Association, which was formed well over a decade ago to advise foreign, English-speaking, drivers of Spanish Traffic Law. I, in fact, am the instructor who has visited thousands of people over the years to explain the differences in Spain, compared to their native countries.
Project Understanding
As part of the development, we have created Project Understanding, which you can read more about on the dedicated website, but part of Project Understanding is to bring back road safety advice across the generations, and countries, to make the roads safer for all.
The idea takes people, eventually, on a journey from birth to the opposite of birth, with different levels of educational resources to help, such as Trafford, the N332 Road Safety Raccoon, and his friends, of which I am one, in animated form, and in taking the project to schools.
Trafford and Friends can be found on their website, and have songs and videos to prompt curiosity up to around age 10.
As adults, we already have N332, and various official sources of information available.
However, in between lies a mysterious world of the teenager, who take everyone on their own personal rollercoaster to young adulthood. This is where Riley sits.
So, to answer the question in the simplest of forms, Riley is a character developed as part of Project Understanding, to bring road safety and lifestyle advice to teens and young adults. A character created by me. You see, I didn´t just make up the story like a crazy person, although I am also happy to accept that title too.
Riley is, effectively, an almost ageless character, although that is not strictly true because she does age, but she actually ages with the peers. In simple terms, Riley grows alongside the audience she represents, evolving from a teenage voice into a young adult perspective over time.
She starts her life as an animated human character who makes the transition from Trafford and Friends, into the real world, as those younger people start to enter their teens. As they grow, so does Riley, by becoming a human-like character in the real world, again taking on a younger appearance initially, then maturing into a young adult.
Why Riley Exists
So, the obvious question you might be thinking is why? I can explain that by copying an excerpt from the Riley´s Road books, which I also wrote. They even have my name on the cover to prove it.
I created her — with the help of AI — to represent the voice of today’s teenagers, to bridge the gap between experience and youth, between authority and understanding.
If I say Riley isn’t real, then the next question might be: why create her at all?
My answer is simple — to most of the people who will read these books, I’m not real either. Of course, I am real — I’m alive, human, and writing this as myself — but very few readers will ever meet me. To them, I’m just a name, a voice, or a logo on the page. Riley, on the other hand, feels familiar. She speaks in the tone, rhythm, and curiosity of those she represents.
Teenagers listen to teenagers. They learn best when they can relate, when they feel seen and understood. My role as “the instructor” is to make sure that what she says is accurate, practical, and rooted in real road safety education. But the way she says it — the stories, the tone, the voice — that’s what makes it work.
Because the truth is, information alone doesn’t change behaviour.
Understanding does.
And understanding comes from connection.
So that is the reason, Riley is in fact me, or I am in fact Riley, depending how you look at it, but speaking to teens, and representing them both ways in their own language. Not preaching, dictating, or judging, but explaining in as positive a way as possible.
Riley is openly fictional, and that transparency matters. The goal is not to pretend she is a real person, but to use storytelling to communicate ideas in a way that feels relatable and engaging.
Why Riley Via-Silva?
Riley: A Name for Transition, Courage, and Growth
The name Riley is more than a label for one of the project’s central characters; it is a linguistic bridge between cultures, histories, and ideas. Like Trafford, Riley’s name was chosen with care, reflecting the psychological and developmental role she plays within the educational pathway — guiding older children and teenagers as they transition from childhood curiosity to mature responsibility.
Riley is unusual because its form arises from two entirely separate linguistic traditions, each carrying meaning that aligns naturally with the themes explored in Project Understanding.
The Irish Root: Courage and Connection
These meanings resonate strongly with the character of Riley as she appears in the project — brave enough to confront challenges, socially aware enough to guide her peers, and grounded enough to model positive behaviour for younger learners. In this sense, her name symbolises the inner strength required to navigate new environments and new responsibilities.
The English Root: Growth and Place
Separately, Riley exists as an English place-name, formed from the Old English words:
ryge — rye
leah — clearing, meadow, or open woodland
Together, they create the meaning “a clearing where rye grows.”
Where the Irish root evokes courage, this English root evokes growth, cultivation, and the opening of space — a perfect metaphor for adolescence, where new ideas and abilities begin to “emerge into the clearing,” visible, intentional, and ripe for guidance.
This dual etymology means Riley’s name joins two worlds: inner strength and outward growth. It mirrors her role in the learning journey — a character who stands between childhood innocence and adult awareness, offering a pathway forward.
Today, Riley is firmly recognised as a unisex name, adaptable, friendly, approachable, and contemporary. Its sound is light, open, and energetic — qualities that make it ideal for a character designed to engage both teenagers and adults in conversation about safety, responsibility, and understanding.
Riley is the learner who grows into an ambassador.
The child who becomes the guide.
The character who helps young people step into a more aware, more reflective version of themselves.
And her name — linguistically, historically, and psychologically — reflects that journey.
But it doesn´t end there. The name Via was chosen deliberately. “Via” reflects the idea of roads, journeys and travel, while Riley is a name that feels modern, international and familiar across cultures. Her full surname, Via-Silva, derives from Silvamere, where Trafford and Friends live, so Riley is taking her peers to adulthood via Silvamere.
Why Music and Social Media
Now, you are perhaps also confused as to why she has a singing profile. Well, that too has an educational reason, because we can consider Riley the singer almost like the Trojan Horse. Riley also has a presence on social media, Instagram and TikTok to be specific, where she also shares pictures of her “life”.
This website is where Riley’s different voices come together — music, podcast conversations, blog posts and stories connected to the wider Project Understanding.
I am, by the way, all too aware of the fact that I am a mature man pretending to be a young girl on the internet! But you can rest assured that we also have safeguarding measures in place.
Safeguarding is taken extremely seriously, with clear boundaries around interaction, moderation and transparency about how the project is run.
But, the Trojan Horse is a barrier breaker. There are some young people who would instantly put their barriers up if they thought they were about to be taught a “lesson” about road safety. So, by getting to “know” Riley, and like her, through music or lifestyle, or her blog, or podcast, the safety message falls much more naturally.
So, you see, and I hope she doesn´t read this in a Pinocchio sort of way, she is, in reality, just a tool for communication, one developed to break down barriers and speak almost as a translator to young people, ensuring we maximise the message of safer roads for all.
Riley may be fictional, but the conversations she helps start — about responsibility, awareness and safer roads — are very real.
In Simple Terms
Riley Via is a fictional character created by road safety educator Mark Nolan as part of Project Understanding, a wider initiative linked to the N332 Road Safety Association. Designed to represent the voice and perspective of teenagers and young adults, Riley uses music, podcasting and storytelling to explore road safety, responsibility and everyday life. While Riley herself is fictional and created with the help of AI, the education behind her message comes from real world road safety experience and teaching.