On Thursday 20 November, 120 pupils from Wallingford School Sixth Form spent the afternoon at ‘Safe Drive, Stay Alive’, an event organised by Thames Valley Police, local authorities and emergency services.
The audience of 16 & 17 year olds were silenced the moment a policewoman ascended the stage and informed them that she has the worst job in the world; she knocks on doors and delivers news which every parent dreads, news which will devastate a family forever. She was just one of the speakers whose stories reminded young people of the ripple effect a road traffic accident can have, triggering images that will remain in the minds of every person in the room, forever. A fire-fighter, a paramedic, a doctor, a bereaved mother, an injured survivor and a convicted dangerous driver all separately delivered their personal stories in a bid to reduce the amount of young deaths on the road.
Last year 1,204 people aged 16-19 were injured on roads in Thames Valley and Hampshire and an average of 4 young people per week were seriously injured. Young drivers are much more likely to be involved in a crash on the roads, often due to inexperience and lack of knowledge of the risks. 1 in 4 deaths on the road is aged between 17 and 24. It is for this reason that Wallingford School has taken this step to extend the education beyond the classroom and prevent one of our students becoming a statistic.
Ellice Rourke and Sophie Mills, two students who attended, said “The event truly showed how easily accidents can be caused by speeding, drinking, using a phone, putting on a CD and being distracted by others in the car, all of which are avoidable. Having the confidence to say ‘No’ to being in a car with a person who you believe may cause harm to yourself and others, or avoiding driving at high speeds or under the influence of drugs and alcohol yourself can save the lives of so many. We don’t want to be another statistic of one of these events in the future, and this event taught us how responsibility behind the wheel can easily prevent this.”
Two other sixth formers, Guy Cross and Tom Robertson, said “The real life stories brought to life the possible consequences of dangerous driving. A detailed image was painted in my head and I cannot shake the thought of both my family, and the possibility of the family of my friends, being affected by me driving dangerously.”
Follow up activities will be taking place in school to enable students to appreciate the responsibility that comes with the ability to drive a car. In the words of one spectator “Having a licence doesn’t make you a safe driver, any more than having a lottery ticket makes you a millionaire.”