Road safety lessons helping reduce both casualties and crime

Casualty Reduction Officers Dave Godley and Stuart Howarth with Falinge Park High School pupils Siraj Shafique, Saxon Newsham, Georgia Lees and Asim Nadeem

Pupils at Falinge Park High School recently received a visit from the Council’s Casualty Reduction Team who spoke about the consequences of car crime.

The team highlighted to Year 9 pupils the perils of getting involved in car crime. Apart from the risk of being involved in criminal proceeding the team pointed out that statistically people in a stolen vehicle involved in a crash or loss of control, receive injuries much worse than those in their own cars. This is generally due to excessive speed, a lack of knowledge and experience of driving, non-use of a seatbelt and showing off in the company of peers.

One of the core messages in the session is the issue of peer pressure; By Year 9, children start building up a larger circle of friends, and those friends may know other people who do not see a problem with getting in a stolen car. The life-changing impact of this wrong decision is also heavily emphasised to the pupils.

The Casualty Reduction Team work closely with staff at all the borough’s schools and provide input to all school children in the borough over the academic year. Every lesson is tailored to meet the needs of each year group and allows the pupils to stimulate debate, look at reasons why drivers crash and highlights that 95 percent of injury on the road is due to human error. The mantra ‘Crashes are no accident’ is something the team try and get across to everyone they meet.

Stuart Howarth, Casualty Reduction Officer for the Council, said: “We really enjoy delivering these lessons, and we try to make them as informative for the children as possible. When we hear of anyone young or old being involved in a road traffic incident that should have been avoided, it is really upsetting.

“Therefore, by talking with pupils as often as we do, hopefully something will sink in before they do end up becoming a casualty statistic.”

Cllr Jacqui Beswick, cabinet member for place and regulation (including highways), said: “Stealing a car means a perpetrator will not only receive a criminal record, but they are also much more likely to seriously injure themselves while in that stolen car. This makes the work of the Casualty Reduction Team in the borough’s schools incredibly valuable in helping to reduce both car crime and road traffic casualties.”

The Council’s Highways team is always willing to provide resources to any member of the community who requires road safety information. To request these resources, please e-mail; highways@rochdale.gov.uk