Some 2,500 students from across the Swindon area will experience a hard-hitting road safety presentation over the next two weeks.
Safe Drive Stay Alive uses powerful personal testimony and dramatic video footage to make the audience aware of the tragedy and suffering caused by road traffic collisions.
Firefighters, medics, police officers, bereaved parents and people who have been directly involved in road traffic collisions recount their stories, often in heart-breaking detail.
Between 20 and 29 September, the presentation will be seen by students from St Joseph’s College, Dorcan Academy, Nova Hreod, Swindon Academy, Warneford School, Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, Braden Forest School, Park Academy, Lawn Manor Academy, Abbey Park School, North Star College, Ridgeway School, Crowdys Hill School, Swindon UTC and Commonweal.
Students from the Oakfield Project and Stratton Education Centre are also seeing the show during its run in Swindon, and Kingdown School will see the show at a later date.
Safe Drive Stay Alive is a Wiltshire and Swindon road safety initiative coordinated by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service on behalf of a partnership including Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council, Arval Ltd, Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Severn Major Trauma Network.
Since its launch in 2006, the roadshow has been seen by thousands of students – and the organising team wants it to be essential viewing for every school in Swindon and Wiltshire.
Ian Hopkins, road safety manager at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, explained: “The presentation is hard hitting and upsetting, but we make no apology for that. The speakers are real people who have experienced the horror of road traffic collisions, whether as a member of the emergency services, as a victim or as a parent who has lost a child. It is this truthfulness that makes it so successful. We know that the young people who see this roadshow are affected, and we have seen the number of young people killed or seriously injured on our roads decrease since the programme started. We really do make a difference.”
Safe Drive roadshows will be held for schools across Wiltshire between October and December, with presentations in Salisbury, Devizes, Trowbridge, Tidworth, West Lavington, Chippenham and Marlborough.
There will also be a number of shows held specifically for military personnel in November, and a parallel programme of shows for schools in Dorset.
