CRASH VICTIMS TO WARN TEENAGERS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF DRIVING

Thousands of Havering teenagers will hear tragic stories from disabled survivors of road crashes and the parents of young people killed, at the fourth ‘Safe Drive, Stay Alive’ week-long road safety campaign. Between 4,000 and 4,500 young people will be attending the hard-hitting shows at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch next week (beginning Monday 9 November) organised by Havering Council.

The Council, supported by London Fire Brigade, the Ambulance Service, Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, Highways Agency and A & E staff from Queen’s Hospital, has organised nine shows next week. The shows are aimed at making potential new and inexperienced drivers change their behaviour and attitudes to road safety.

All Year 11 pupils in Havering will join other teenagers from neighbouring boroughs to hear first hand from Nick Bennett who suffered brain damage and now has to use a wheelchair after being involved in a horrific road crash.

Grieving mum Cheryl Robbins will tell the heart-wrenching story of how police called at her house in the early hours of the morning to say her son had died in a car accident. She then had to go an identify the body. Her son was a rear seat passenger but hadn’t put on his seatbelt. Teenager Lee Potter will talk about how he lost control of his car which careered into some trees. When he regained consciousness he saw that his leg was pointing at a horrific angle.

This year a new film will be shown which follows the fictional story of a girl who celebrates the news of a successful audition at the West End with a night out. She and a friend meet a couple of young men who decide to take a drive to a nightclub. The story ends with the consequences of careless driving and what happens if people don’t wear seatbelts.

Since it began in 2005 approximately 18,000 students have seen the show.

Cllr Peter Gardner, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said:

"This is the fourth year that Safe Drive, Stay Alive has been run in Havering and is more powerful than previous years. It covers the dangers of speed, drink and drugs, peer pressure and mobile phones but also makes young people confront the reality of how a moment of reckless driving can tear someone’s life apart."