The potentially lethal consequences of using a mobile phone behind the wheel are being highlighted as part of latest Safe Drive Stay Alive programme as it hits the roads of Tayside.
By the end of this month, more than 4,500 senior school youngsters will have taken part in the award-winning event, a hard-hitting insight into the potential consequences which follow serious road collisions.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service officers alongside police, paramedics and A&E doctors will leave no-one in any doubt of the horrors they face at the scene of crashes, with youngsters also hearing the personal stories of tragedy from families whose lives have been shattered by road crashes.
Station manager Ewan Baird said Safe Drive Stay Alive makes no apologies for the dramatic content of the presentation, which frequently sees youngsters reduced to tears as they take in the enormity of the consequences for those involved.
Main sponsor Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has ensured the continuation of the Tayside programme which launched at the Reid Hall in Forfar on Tuesday.
It will move on to Dundee and Perth after the two-day run in Angus.
Mr Baird said: “Too many young people are unaware how easily a driver can lose control and how terrible the consequences can be.
“The people who see the show are likely to be learning to drive, to have recently passed their test or to be in the car with a new driver.
“Sadly, the professionals involved in Safe Drive Stay Alive have all seen first-hand the awful results of something going wrong.
“By sharing our experience of needless tragedies with young people we can make them consider their actions so they can choose never to put themselves or others at risk.”
The hard hitting event has been running since 2006, but is continually updated and this year will put special focus on the potential tragedy which can result from using a mobile phone behind the wheel.
A new scenario revolves around a car load of young people going to a festival who are involved in a crash which leaves one person dead and another paralysed.
Driver distraction, bad driving practices and peer pressure are all covered in the intense presentation.
“Mobile phones have so many distractions and it is not just for the driver. A lot of young people also take their driving habits from their parents so they may think it is acceptable to do something that could have very serious consequences,” added Mr Baird.
Within the Safe Drive Stay Alive film, emergency responders speak of the personal impact when they attend a crash and how they approach informing the next of kin, explaining to the youngsters how families react when told a loved one has been killed.
Family members of people who have had their lives dramatically changed by a road traffic collision then speak to the youngsters in what is often the most emotionally charged part of the presentation.
Mr Baird added: “Hearing these stories has to make us all think about our actions when we are behind the wheel.
This year’s event which was organised by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and supported by partner agencies including: Scottish Ambulance Service, Police Scotland, Tayside Trauma Team, St Andrews First Aid, Local Authority Community Wardens, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership, Perth and Kinross Council, Dundee City Council and Angus Council.
