Safe Drive Stay Alive: The harrowing 90 minutes which aims to save young lives

Safe Drive Stay Alive: The harrowing 90 minutes which aims to save young lives

Thousands of young people will be brought face-to-face with the horrific aftermath of a road traffic collision as part of a brand new road safety initiative, ‘Safe Drive Stay Alive’.

Students from across Greater Manchester will attend one of 14 performances taking place at Middleton Arena where they’ll be greeted with a party atmosphere before being hit with the harrowing and hard-hitting consequences of driving dangerously.

The project is the first of its kind in Greater Manchester and uses real people, including emergency service staff and family members of those lost in collisions, to tell their own personal stories of tragedy and loss.

Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, North West Ambulance Service, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s Major Trauma Coordinator’s, the prison service and Drivesafe have joined forces to launch the project and hope it will help reduce the number of young lives being lost on the roads of Greater Manchester.

Karen Delaney from Drivesafe said: “Young drivers and passengers in Greater Manchester are at a disproportionately high risk of being killed or seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions. The Safe Drive Stay Alive project, funded through the Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership aims at reducing these risks through a powerful mature performance through thought provoking real scenario’s about consequences and posing preventative measures.”

In the last 10 years (2003-2013), there were 232 young driver related deaths in Greater Manchester. This figure includes young people and people killed by a young driver. Young people are more at risk of being involved in a collision, despite a smaller proportion of them holding a driving licence.

Inspector Matt Bailey-Smith from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “Road safety isn’t a subject to be taken lightly and Safe Drive Stay Alive uses an emotive and hard-hitting approach to make young people sit up and think about the consequences of their decisions.

“It’s easy to switch off when looking at a poster or watching an advert but the impact of a parent stood in front of you talking about the loss of their son or daughter takes it to another level and will make even the most hardened of young people think twice about their actions.”

Elaine Gordon lost her son James in 2009 after he was involved in a road traffic accident. On the day that he died, James had been out to watch Manchester United. He then went to meet with friends and went on a night out. James got into a car with a man he had met during that evening. Unfortunately, James didn’t make it home that night. James was killed in a road traffic accident. It was discovered that the driver of the car was twice over the drink drive limit and had drugs in his system.

Elaine said: “It is always difficult to tell the story but I have a plan and a reason as to why I am doing it. If I can help just one family from going through what we went though then I have helped in some way.

“Each situation is different and the 10 points that GMP have highlighted are a good way to stay safe on the roads. My one piece of advice though would be if you are going out, make sure you organise transport home and have a good plan in place.”

Sister Karen Higham-Deakin, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s Senior Major Trauma Coordinator said: “As a Senior Major Trauma Coordinator I see things like young people in road accidents on a regular basis and I would say speed, distraction and peer pressure are the main things that cause these accidents. You are not invincible. Think twice about what you are doing if you are in the car and even if you are a passenger.”

Greg Entwistle, a Family Liaison Officer with the Traffic Network Services said: “This can happen to anyone. We never think that when we get in our car to go out that we aren’t going to come back but it does happen and it is happening on a daily basis across Greater Manchester. Young drivers need to think of the consequences of their actions. Checking your phone or going a little bit faster won’t just affect you, that ripple affect could hurt a lot of people for a long time.”

Steve Hynes, Greater Manchester Head of Service, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, welcomed the initiative saying, “This initiative is an excellent way of educating people about the dangers, providing them with a taste of the harsh reality of speeding, together with accurate and suitable information in order to make an informed choice about how they decide to drive”.