Safe Drive Stay Alive - The Team
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’.
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.
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.
Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire & 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.
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.
The average cost of young driver collisions in 2011-2013 was more than £72 million per year, which accounts for a quarter of Greater Manchester’s casualty costs.
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”.
Dean, Dee and Hannah Wilson lost their 21-year-old son and brother when he crashed into a tree in 2010 and will be sharing their personal stories at Safe Drive Stay Alive. They said: "Although emotionally very difficult, as a family we feel a certain sense of pride in being
invited to be part of Safe Drive Stay Alive. Through our volunteering, our very simple hope is to prevent other families from suffering such a profound loss. In doing this we feel some good will come from the loss of our Matt."
Sister Karen Higham-Deakin, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s Senior Major Trauma Coordinator said: “Working in the Emergency Department I’ve seen countless numbers of lives destroyed every year through dangerous or careless driving. It’s important to remember that collisions don’t just affect the victim who loses their life or sustains life changing injuries.
“As an experienced health professional helping to care for the victims of road accidents, I am still often deeply affected by the cases that I see so I can only imagine how completely devastating this is for the family and friends of the young person who has been involved in the incident.”
Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: "Learning to drive opens up a sense of freedom and opportunity for young people. It also comes with a huge responsibility of keeping themselves, their passengers and other road users safe from becoming casualties.
“The vast majority of young drivers take this responsibility very seriously, and become safe and considerate drivers. However, through lack of experience or peer pressure, too many are still involved in collisions involving fatalities and life changing injuries. Our emergency response crews are all too often dealing with devastating scenes where young people lose their lives.
“Safe Drive Stay Alive will play a vital role in demonstrating to thousands of young people across the county the consequences of risk taking whilst on the roads.
“We are delighted that our colleges have committed to attending, and applaud the bravery of all of our speakers, particularly those family members who will be talking to students about the true impact of losing someone they love in a road traffic collision."
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. Decision making skills are an essential part of being a safe road user”.
Steve Hynes, Greater Manchester Head of Service, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, welcomed the initiative saying, “Young drivers are much more likely to be involved in a crash on our roads often due to inexperience and lack of knowledge of the risks. Paramedics see first-hand the horrific devastation accidents like this cause and the ongoing effects it has on the people involved and their families, for some, Christmases and birthdays are never the same again.
“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”.
Singer-songwriter Mike Dignam has leant his support to the project and his song, Beautiful Tragedy will be played during the performance as well as being offered as a free download to students. He said: "I feel very privileged and humbled to have been asked to be involved in such an important and significant campaign aimed at young people effected by, or involved with, road traffic accidents. It's a fantastic initiative and something that resonates with me, as growing up both my parents were in the road safety police so I know how impactful these accidents can be."
Follow @SafeDriveGM on twitter and Instagram and use the hashtag #SafeDriveGM to join in the conversation.
Visit www.SafeDriveGM.co.uk for more
Safe Drive Stay Alive - The Team
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’.
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.
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.
Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire & 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.
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.
The average cost of young driver collisions in 2011-2013 was more than £72 million per year, which accounts for a quarter of Greater Manchester’s casualty costs.
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”.
Dean, Dee and Hannah Wilson lost their 21-year-old son and brother when he crashed into a tree in 2010 and will be sharing their personal stories at Safe Drive Stay Alive. They said: "Although emotionally very difficult, as a family we feel a certain sense of pride in being
invited to be part of Safe Drive Stay Alive. Through our volunteering, our very simple hope is to prevent other families from suffering such a profound loss. In doing this we feel some good will come from the loss of our Matt."
Sister Karen Higham-Deakin, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s Senior Major Trauma Coordinator said: “Working in the Emergency Department I’ve seen countless numbers of lives destroyed every year through dangerous or careless driving. It’s important to remember that collisions don’t just affect the victim who loses their life or sustains life changing injuries.
“As an experienced health professional helping to care for the victims of road accidents, I am still often deeply affected by the cases that I see so I can only imagine how completely devastating this is for the family and friends of the young person who has been involved in the incident.”
Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: "Learning to drive opens up a sense of freedom and opportunity for young people. It also comes with a huge responsibility of keeping themselves, their passengers and other road users safe from becoming casualties.
“The vast majority of young drivers take this responsibility very seriously, and become safe and considerate drivers. However, through lack of experience or peer pressure, too many are still involved in collisions involving fatalities and life changing injuries. Our emergency response crews are all too often dealing with devastating scenes where young people lose their lives.
“Safe Drive Stay Alive will play a vital role in demonstrating to thousands of young people across the county the consequences of risk taking whilst on the roads.
“We are delighted that our colleges have committed to attending, and applaud the bravery of all of our speakers, particularly those family members who will be talking to students about the true impact of losing someone they love in a road traffic collision."
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. Decision making skills are an essential part of being a safe road user”.
Steve Hynes, Greater Manchester Head of Service, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, welcomed the initiative saying, “Young drivers are much more likely to be involved in a crash on our roads often due to inexperience and lack of knowledge of the risks. Paramedics see first-hand the horrific devastation accidents like this cause and the ongoing effects it has on the people involved and their families, for some, Christmases and birthdays are never the same again.
“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”.
Singer-songwriter Mike Dignam has leant his support to the project and his song, Beautiful Tragedy will be played during the performance as well as being offered as a free download to students. He said: "I feel very privileged and humbled to have been asked to be involved in such an important and significant campaign aimed at young people effected by, or involved with, road traffic accidents. It's a fantastic initiative and something that resonates with me, as growing up both my parents were in the road safety police so I know how impactful these accidents can be."
Follow @SafeDriveGM on twitter and Instagram and use the hashtag #SafeDriveGM to join in the conversation.
Visit www.SafeDriveGM.co.uk for more