Wise Drive
The Wise Drive event takes place at Police Headquarters, Aykley Heads, Durham, over a 10 day period each September. Invitations to attend the event are sent to all of the schools within the County Durham and Darlington area who have year 11 students attending their school.
The 2006 Wise Drive Event, will take place between Friday 15th and Thursday 28th September 2006.
WISE DRIVE - Drive For Life is a truly innovative and interactive, multi-agency initiative aimed at young people in Darlington and County Durham who are within reach of their first driving licence.
It is set against appalling statistics that reveal 3,500 people are killed on Britain's roads every year. Ten a day or the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every month with no survivors. In addition, are the 39,122 who are seriously injured every year and the 277,765 people who receive a minor injury.
Apart from this very disturbing human cost there is also, a not insubstantial financial burden on the taxpayer, which amounts to a staggering £20 billion pounds annually.
Who is responsible? Statistically, 17 year old - 25 year old drivers are the most vulnerable group holding as they do only 10% of the driving licenses issued but claiming responsibility for 25% of and being involved in 40% of all collisions reported to the Police. As if more proof were needed a driver in this age group is three times as likely to be killed in a road crash as any other group. As a passenger this rises to six times as likely.
"Wise Drive" has been designed to tackle this. It provides an opportunity for the agencies involved in the scheme to access and better inform young people in all aspects of road safety.
In practical terms, each "Wise Drive" event is a one day education programme running over seven hours. There are a total of seven very different, 45 minute activities, six of which take place simultaneously. A maximum of 72 young people take part in each day's event being drawn in from schools throughout the Force area in groups of twelve.
The activities are provided by agencies such as Durham Agency Against Crime, Durham Constabulary, Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, North East Ambulance Service, HMP Durham, The Prison Me? No Way! Trust, Driving Standards Agency and the Local and Unitary Authority Road Safety Officers. However, it is not just the government and statutory bodies that provide this initiative, businesses are also keen to be involved and this has led to Barclays Bank, Walkers Crisps and Vauxhall Motors all joining the scheme. Their support has been much more than just financial with it including equipment and staff.
The activities provided are designed to interest, include, engage and above all inform the young participants, capturing their attention and imaginations in a manner, which allows a number of very important and serious topics to be addressed.
These include a extremely hard hitting first session, entitled Casualty Awareness, which calls upon graphic visual materials but above all a full explanation of the scenarios allowing their impact to be fully absorbed. Complementing this is the opportunity to experience being cut out of a real car by the Fire and Rescue Service. More sedate but highly entertaining is the DSA activity allowing the participants to sit the Driving Test Theory exam.
In addition to this there are a number of other no less important issues addressed, which range from how to buy a vehicle safely, through to just as importantly how to maintain it once it has been bought. These rely on being interactive with participants choosing a vehicle to buy from a garage forecourt situation, one of the vehicles being a highly desirable but stolen ‘cut and shut’ example. The maintenance session is also hands on, with a participant from each group being given the opportunity to compete in a wheel changing competition.
Other activities involve the participants being deputised by the Motorcycle Section after having received the necessary training to check for motorcycle security marks and a smattering of off road and documentation law. They are then placed in a role play situation that is both fun and enlightening for all concerned!
Participants also get the opportunity to experience the forces at work in a skid on the skidpan, before being strapped into a seat belt sled which simulates the forces involved in even a very low speed crash. This element is then rounded up with input from the Road Safety Officers, who, reaction test the participants and address speed and peer group issues. Without doubt though the real carrot used to keep the interest of the young participants is the BSM activity in which they all get to use a state of the art driving simulator and drive a duel control vehicle on the off road driver training area.
In a nutshell, "Wise Drive" is an opportunity to engage with young potential drivers and help establish good, positive attitudes and behaviour prior to them obtaining their licence. Our aim is to send them away buzzing and excited, but above all better informed about safer driving. Armed with the information they need to keep them from becoming just another statistic.
Important to us? Yes we see it as an investment in our own young drivers, an investment that we hope to see pay dividends in a long and safe driving career.
Perhaps the final words should be left to some of the teachers and young people who attend the envent:
