Date: 29th June, 2016
Around 400 Army personnel at Wiltshire’s newest military establishment have recently seen the Safe Drive Stay Alive presentation, with a focus on motorbike safety.
Safe Drive Stay Alive is a Wiltshire and Swindon road safety initiative coordinated by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service on behalf of a partnership including Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council, Arval Ltd, SWIFT Medics, Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Severn Major Trauma Network.
The presentation combines powerful personal testimony and dramatic video footage to make the audience aware of the tragedy and suffering caused by road traffic collisions. Firefighters, medics, police officers, bereaved parents and people who have been directly involved in crashes recount their stories, often in heartbreaking detail.
On 14 and 15 June, staff and students at the Defence College of Technical Training at MoD Lyneham experienced the roadshow but, unlike other Safe Drive presentations, these two shows focused on motorbikes – in 2015/16, there were ten fatalities in Wiltshire involving motorbike riders, which accounted for a third of all road deaths.
Ian Hopkins, road safety manager for Dorset & Wiltshire FRS, said: “Young soldiers are at serious risk of being involved in a road traffic collision. Just here in Wiltshire, we have seen far too many people from the military community being injured or killed on our roads. By taking Safe Drive Stay Alive to military sites, we are able to make this high risk group more aware of the dangers they face.”
He added: “The Army is looking to roll out Safe Drive to all of its sites across the UK, based on the Wiltshire model, and the feedback we have received to date from soldiers who have seen the show has been really positive. Our first visit to the Defence College of Technical Training went really well – they’ve identified that a significant number of their personnel have motorbikes, and we welcome their proactive approach to keeping their people safe.”