STUDENTS across Swindon will get a hard-hitting road safety presentation from bereaved parents and the emergency services this month.

The presentations is part of the Safe Drive, Stay Alive campaign which uses powerful personal testimony and dramatic video to make the audience aware of the tragedy resulting from car crashes.

Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and parents of victims involved in car crashes will recount their stories in detail to help drive home the message at presentations to schools between the 18 and 27 of September.

Ian Hopkins, road safety manager at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, explained: “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.”

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue hopes to reach more than 2,800 students to improve road safety and reduce the number of crashes on the road.

Since its launch in 2006, the roadshow has been seen by thousands of students. Organisers want it to be essential viewing for every school in Swindon and Wiltshire.

Campaign roadshows will be held for schools across Wiltshire this Autumn, with presentations in Salisbury, Melksham, Devizes, Tidworth, West Lavington, Chippenham and Marlborough between October and December.

There are around 1,400 accidents on the roads in Swindon and Wiltshire every year costing approximately £115m.