Road Safety is rapidly becoming a more apparent issue for young people. Many begin to learn to drive when they turn the ripe old age of 17, but what then? What of their knowledge of health and safety? Are we safe with young, unknowing drivers?
 

On Thursday 22nd November, Woodford County sixth formers attended a talk run by Redbridge in association with the Metropolitan Police at the Kenneth More Theatre entitled ‘Safe Drive Stay Alive’. The talk showed many the hard hitting realities of the dangers of driving. Many videos we shown of case studies of car accidents, all of which could have been avoided had the driver paid more attention, or if all passengers had worn something as simple as a seatbelt.
 

As well as much emotional footage, speeches were given by different people all involved with at least one car crash accident in their lifetime. Speakers included a paramedic, a fireman, a policeman who specialised in car incidents within the metropolitan police, a bereaved mother and a car crash victim.
 

The first speaker was a paramedic who spoke of how not only did a car crash lead to such devastating accidents and injuries, but also greatly affected him. He spoke of how he had often been called to the scene of a car crash, and that the injuries he had seen were so horrific, he was permanently scarred as a result. The second speaker was a fireman who had also witnessed traumatic crash sites, and how difficult it could be to retrieve people from a destroyed car.
The next speaker was a member of the metropolitan police who spoke of the sheer amount of work that followed from a car crash in legalities etc, and shocked the audience by stating that not ever in his career had he come across a single car-crash case where the crash could not have been avoided. “It really hit home when he said, ‘I don’t want to be the one turning up at your door, telling your mum that she can’t see you anymore, and she can’t even come and identify your body because you’re too disfigure from the accident.’ This really affected me and made me think very carefully about the importance of road safety as I am learning to drive at the moment.” - Lara Janes-Walton, a student.
 

Another speaker was a bereaved mother who spoke very movingly of how the death of her son had affected not just her, but also her family and friends and all who had known her son. She spoke of how her son had been a passenger in the car crash several and had died almost instantly. Another student, Calais Peterkin, said “I found it so moving because the bond between the mother and her child was obviously very strong and it was so emotional to see how such a horrific accident had affected her so deeply.”
 

The final speaker was felt to be by many as perhaps the most powerful speaker of them all (reducing most of the audience to tears). He had been driving too quickly without a seatbelt and had crashed at high speed. He remained in hospital drifting in and out of consciousness for a total of 14 months, and finally emerged with so severe injuries that he was paralysed to a wheelchair and had difficulties with speaking, one of his legs also had to be amputated as a result of the crash. “I found him the most moving speaker of them all”, said Ruby Woloski, “I was tearful from the minute he came on stage. It was devastating to hear how his entire world had gone up in smoke just because of one incident of reckless driving. His social life had fallen apart and even he himself welled up with emotion just speaking of how the accident had ruined his life. He concluded by repetitively asking us to ‘please drive safely’. This made me ever more fearful of the dangers of unsafe driving, but has also I think scarred me for life to take extreme care on the roads as I have seen just how devastating the effects can be.”