Students in Bath and North East Somerset have been taking part in a special police-led course to help reduce their risks on the road.
Around 80 pupils from Chew Valley School have participated in Road Smart driving awareness sessions over the past three months.
Road Smart is an Avon and Somerset Police initiative to raise awareness of potential hazards and to help reduce the casualties and deaths on our roads.
The school has booked a series of these interactive sessions to help its young people reduce their risks on the road. To date, more than 1,000 people of all ages have signed up across the force area to take advantage of free driving awareness training.
Sergeant Will Stephens said: “It’s crucial that as many people as possible attend these free road safety awareness sessions. In just one year in Avon and Somerset, 452 people were killed or seriously injured on our roads and one third of these were young people. If the course saves just one life, then it’s all worthwhile.
“These free sessions are available all over the force area for individual members of the public, of all ages. We can also arrange for courses to be held at schools, colleges or places of work to reach larger groups.”
The series of events held at Chew Valley school is part of a collaboration between Bath and North East Somerset Council and Avon and Somerset Police to promote road safety for young drivers aged 17- 24.
Due to inexperience, and factors including peer pressure, newly-qualified drivers are at their most vulnerable in their first years of driving, and 17-24 year old drivers are over-represented in casualty figures.
The Road Smart initiative complements the Council’s ‘Wrecked West’ risk-avoidance classes to provide young drivers and passengers with knowledge to help them safely negotiate their formative driving years.
Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Cllr Caroline Roberts, said: “Bath and North East Somerset has an excellent road safety record, but tragically young drivers continue to feature in our casualty statistics.
“I would commend all secondary schools and further education colleges to adopt the package of Road Smart and Wrecked West, to give our young people the best possible start to their driving careers, and to reduce the casualties and deaths on our roads.”
Mr Andy Arbuckle, Head of Sixth Form at Chew Valley School, said: “When we heard from Avon and Somerset Police about the Road Smart scheme we were really keen to get involved, and invited them in to run their sessions in school. Today is the fourth workshop we’ve run this year, and all students have found them very helpful.
“Young drivers are a really vulnerable group on the roads, and the more we can do to educate them about road safety the better.
“Another excellent scheme is the Wrecked West road safety presentations, and we are working closely with the Bath and North East Somerset road safety team to make sure that our students benefit from this as well.”
The TTC Group, a national provider of driver training courses, are delivering the courses on behalf of Avon and Somerset police. Alan Prosser, TTC Group director, said: “The TTC Group is delighted to work closely with staff and students at Chew Valley School to deliver these innovative workshops for young drivers.
“The workshops have been well received and focus on the most common causes of collisions for younger, inexperienced drivers. They support our aim to reduce road deaths and injuries across the UK with our wide variety of education courses for motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.”
For more information about the campaign visit www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/roadsmart For details of the courses available in your area, and to book a place, go to www.roadsmart.org.
