Young drivers targeted in hard-hitting safety campaign

North Yorkshire Police officers have visited Easingwold School to give graphic presentations to more than 200 sixth form students from people whose lives have been directly affected by crashes on the roads.

The students were addressed by a woman whose daughter was killed by a drink driver, just after her 17th birthday, and a man who suffered severe brain injuries in a collision which has left him paralysed and unable to work.

The latest figures, between January and September 2010, show 68 young people have been killed or seriously injured in road accidents in North Yorkshire. Emergency service professionals say they are extremely concerned at the high numbers.

The Easingwold event follows a similar course held at the school last September.

PC Paul Duffield, of Easingwold Safer Neighbourhood Team, says young drivers are being targeted to improve their conduct.

He said: “The aim of this event was to get young, inexperienced drivers to think about what they are doing when they get into a car.

“The speakers we had in the morning session had a real impact and I think what they said will have had an effect on the youngsters here.”

“Prior to the last course in September we had a bit of a problem with anti-social driving in the area. We were regularly issuing section 59 notices which we give to drivers displaying poor and inconsiderate behaviour.

“Since that course there has been a major improvement of driver behaviour among young motorists in the area.”

Earlier this year, the Harrogate District Community Safety Partnership a launched a similar hard-hitting road safety campaign called Learn and Live, with interviews with bereaved parents who have lost their children in road crashes, shown to thousands of youngsters in schools across the district.

A similar campaign, used by Cleveland Fire Brigade, helped to reduce the number of deaths on the roads by two thirds deaths over the past five years.