A SERIES of fatal crashes along the A419 in 2013 persuaded Jo Silvester and her fellow driving instructors how youngsters were taught road safety needed to change.

They set up Swindon Young Drivers, a not-for-profit group that gives children the chance to get behind the wheel before their 17th birthday.

Five years on from the horror crashes that claimed three teenagers’ lives, Swindon Young Drivers celebrated its third birthday.

Jo Silvester, a driving instructor since 2009, said at the celebrations on Sunday: “At the time of the crashes, I had a conversation with one of my pupils who knew a girl involved.”

She asked the girl what it would take for young people to drive more responsibly: “She said, ‘I’ve just got to wait for one of my friends to die.’ I thought that was such a sad way for her to change her habits.”

Now, Swindon Young Drivers sees instructors from across the town descend on Wroughton Park and Ride every month to teach mostly teens the rudiments of driving. Since 2013, the charity has taught the basics to hundreds of children.

“When teenagers who have done this course, they’re more confident,” she said. “They know they can drive forwards, they know they can reverse. They’ve got that confidence to drive well.

“I think these courses are great for self-esteem. We’ve had children who have been bullied at school, but the smiles when they get out the car speak for themselves.”

Although the lessons take place on a car park, the course is set up to mimic a real road. On Sunday, one instructor poses as a road contractor stopping the traffic and on other courses an instructor has driven his motorcycle around the youngsters' cars. By the end of the 30 minute or hour-long sessions, the young drivers should be able to change gear, reverse and park.

Jo said: “They get the idea that driving isn’t as easy as mum and dad make it look.”

But the courses also see the youngsters trained in the rudiments of first aid, training them how to perform life-saving CPR.

Parents are keen on the sessions. Alex Hudson watched son Harry nose around the driving course: “He’s only 13. It’s a safe environment to give him the experience of driving and I’m glad someone else is doing it rather than me.”

Sarah Harber added: “My son’s only 14, but already he’s got a better appreciation of road safety.”

For more about the charity Swindon Young Drivers, visit: www.swindonyoungdrivers.co.uk.