Safe drive stay alive in Wokingham
Cars can kill – that’s the message from Wokingham Borough Council along with councils across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. They joined together this month with highway consultants Mouchel, Thames Valley Police and other emergency services to support the Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign.
Every year an average of nine young people aged 16 to 18 are killed on the Thames Valley’s roads and some 1,000 are injured. The aim of the Wokingham Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign is to highlight the real facts about risks on the road for young people, enabling them to make safe and responsible decisions when they come to drive for the first time.
Approximately 450 sixth form pupils from The Piggott School, Maiden Erlegh School, Bulmershe School, the Forest School, Wokingham and Luckley Oakfield School attended special presentations at the Hexagon in Reading on Monday November 12, and the Sandhurst Military Academy on Tuesday November 13. The Hexagon event was introduced by chairman of Reading Football Club John Madjeski, and chief constable of Thames Valley Police Sara Thornton.
At each event a road safety officer from one of the participating councils (Reading Borough Council at the Hexagon and Wokingham Borough Council at Sandhurst) gave a presentation on road deaths. This called on 143 students to stand up to illustrate the number of people that died on the roads of the Thames Valley last year and also involved a specially prepared film, shot on local roads, which told the story of four young people on a night out that ended in disaster.
People from the film including police, firefighters, ambulance crews and a hospital consultant took to the stage to talk about their real life experiences. There were also moving testimonies from a parent who lost his daughter in a road traffic collision and a young man who is confined to a wheelchair following a motorbike accident.
Wokingham Road safety officer Katie Webb said: “The film and the personal accounts from those involved in road traffic accidents have proved a very effective way to highlight key safety messages. Our messages are about the dangers of driving at excess speed, the importance of wearing a seatbelt, the influence of peer pressure on young drivers and the danger of using a mobile phone whilst driving. This campaign has proved an excellent way for us to reach a large number of young people and really drive those messages home.”
Every year an average of nine young people aged 16 to 18 are killed on the Thames Valley’s roads and some 1,000 are injured. The aim of the Wokingham Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign is to highlight the real facts about risks on the road for young people, enabling them to make safe and responsible decisions when they come to drive for the first time.
Approximately 450 sixth form pupils from The Piggott School, Maiden Erlegh School, Bulmershe School, the Forest School, Wokingham and Luckley Oakfield School attended special presentations at the Hexagon in Reading on Monday November 12, and the Sandhurst Military Academy on Tuesday November 13. The Hexagon event was introduced by chairman of Reading Football Club John Madjeski, and chief constable of Thames Valley Police Sara Thornton.
At each event a road safety officer from one of the participating councils (Reading Borough Council at the Hexagon and Wokingham Borough Council at Sandhurst) gave a presentation on road deaths. This called on 143 students to stand up to illustrate the number of people that died on the roads of the Thames Valley last year and also involved a specially prepared film, shot on local roads, which told the story of four young people on a night out that ended in disaster.
People from the film including police, firefighters, ambulance crews and a hospital consultant took to the stage to talk about their real life experiences. There were also moving testimonies from a parent who lost his daughter in a road traffic collision and a young man who is confined to a wheelchair following a motorbike accident.
Wokingham Road safety officer Katie Webb said: “The film and the personal accounts from those involved in road traffic accidents have proved a very effective way to highlight key safety messages. Our messages are about the dangers of driving at excess speed, the importance of wearing a seatbelt, the influence of peer pressure on young drivers and the danger of using a mobile phone whilst driving. This campaign has proved an excellent way for us to reach a large number of young people and really drive those messages home.”
Wokingham Borough Council
<< Home