HUNDREDS of Trowbridge teenagers have been given a hard-hitting road safety presentation this week to show them the devastating impact of road traffic collisions on families.

Safe Drive Stay Alive uses powerful personal testimony and dramatic video footage from firefighters, medics, police officers, bereaved parents and people who have been directly involved in road traffic collisions who recount their stories, often in heart-breaking detail.

Year 11 students from John of Gaunt School, Clarendon Academy and St Augustine’s Catholic College were shown the touring presentation at the Civic Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ian Hopkins, road safety manager at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, who coordinate the roadshow, said: “The presentation is hard-hitting and upsetting, but we make no apology for that. The speakers are real people who have experienced the horror of road traffic collisions, whether as a member of the emergency services, as a victim or as a parent who has lost a child. It is this truthfulness that makes it so successful.

“We know that the young people who see this roadshow are affected, and we have seen the number of young people killed or seriously injured on our roads decrease since the programme started. We really do make a difference.”

Safe Drive Stay Alive is a Wiltshire and Swindon road safety initiative coordinated by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service on behalf of a partnership between a number of agencies including Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council among others.

Since its launch in 2006, the roadshow has been seen by thousands of students and Julie Thomas, assistant principal and lead on citizenship and PHSE at Clarendon said she hopes the presentation makes newly qualified drivers in particular think twice about their road safety.

She added: “We greatly value the opportunity afforded our Year 11 students to be part of the Safe Drive roadshow. It is hard hitting presentations challenge our young people to take responsibility for their behaviour both as drivers and passengers. We see this as an essential part of their personal and social education and are grateful to the organisations and individuals who give their time and expertise.”

For more information about the roadshow, visit www.dwfire.org.uk/education/road-safety-education/safe-drive-stay-alive