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Barnet students set for eye-opening experience

Author: Brendan Steinhardt

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Around 1,500 sixth form students from across Barnet are set to attend an event which promotes safer driving this week.

Safe Drive, Stay Alive (SDSA), an initiative funded by Transport for London, and led by R.E (Regional Enterprise), working on behalf of Barnet Council, in partnership with the Emergency Services, will deliver an uncompromising message to young drivers about the consequences of driving dangerously.

Between 2012 and 2014, young drivers aged 16-25, were involved in around 22 per cent of all road collisions in Barnet. These collisions resulted in 45 people being killed or seriously injured.

With these statistics in mind, SDSA draws attention to the five sources of road danger that are likely to get young drivers into trouble. The sources of road danger are; travelling too fast, becoming distracted, undertaking risky manoeuvres, driving whilst intoxicated and failing to comply with the laws of the road.

Safe Drive Stay Alive aims to make new drivers and their passengers aware of the circumstances that can lead to a collision and the consequences that follow.

The event will feature officers from emergency services recounting their horrific experiences working at the scene of serious road traffic collisions. Sixth formers will also be able to hear powerful testimonies from people who have experienced serious collisions behind the wheel or as a passenger.

During the presentation, personal accounts will come from a parent who has lost a child, and from a young man who is dealing with the aftermath of his own road collisions. Safe Drive, Stay Alive is likely to leave an impression upon young drivers that their future is in their hands.

Councillor Dean Cohen, Chairman of Barnet Council’s Environment Committee, said: “It is always distressing to learn of traffic collisions involving our young people and that is why it is important we educate them on road safety through courses such as this.”

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