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Year 11 students will be shown the devastating consequences of young road users speeding or driving carelessly in Guernsey at a series of hard-hitting presentations next week.
Backed by insurance brokers Rossborough for a second year, Licence To Kill is a tri-service road safety initiative bringing together Guernsey Police, St John’s Ambulance & Rescue and Guernsey Fire & Rescue to improve road safety among young people.
"Each of the emergency services is focused on preservation of life and that’s what this initiative is all about. This will be our seventh year of giving Year 11 students what is a hard- hitting presentation about the very real consequences of speeding and careless driving on Guernsey roads," said Martin Lucas, head of operations Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service.
"We are confident that there is a direct correlation between this campaign and the significant drop in the number of accidents involving young people."
Every Year 11 student in the island will be invited to attend the one-hour presentation at the Princess Royal Centre for the Performing Arts, which will include videos and evidence from accidents involving young road users in Guernsey. While the focus is on speed, it also looks at the use of mobile phones and drink driving.
"Sadly, although the legal speed limit is either 25mph or 35mph, all of the emergency services will have attended accidents involving young people who have been exceeding those limits and not using the road as safely as they should. Those accidents have led to youngsters being seriously injured or in some cases, sadly killed, and what we want to do is set the students a challenge so that they each play their part in using Guernsey roads safely," said Mr Lucas.
Ian Stewart, managing director of Rossborough Group in Guernsey, said the company did not hesitate to renew its sponsorship of the initiative.
"Road accidents are the single biggest killer of young people in the UK and worldwide with young drivers involved in one in four fatal and serious crashes. Statistics show that one in five new drivers will have a crash within six months of their passing their test and that an 18-year-old driver is more than three times as likely to be in involved in a crash as a 48 year-old,’ he said.
"If Rossborough’s support of this initiative can help ensure that those statistics are not reflected locally then it will be absolutely worthwhile."
