The compelling presentation at Carlton Keighley was assisted by colleagues from other blue light services, alongside actors playing the victims. It was designed to show the students the serious consequences of driving carelessly or recklessly and the number of lives that can be impacted by those decisions.
Before the demo members of our Youth Intervention Team also gave a safety talk as part of an assembly aimed at educating the pupils around the main dangers on the roads. Colleagues from Yorkshire Ambulance Service and West Yorkshire Police also highlighted the dangers from their perspectives. The most powerful speech of the day came from Georgina Hurst, who was involved in a serious crash in 1998. She explained the huge physical and mental effort to overcome the injuries from the collision which nearly cost her life.
Watch Manager at Keighley Dom Creed said “As a fire and rescue service road traffic collisions are some of the most harrowing incidents we attend – especially when they involve young people. It was brilliant to be involved in the event to highlight the dangers young people can face when driving or passengers.
“As a fire service we’re encouraging teenagers, and all road users to avoid the ‘fatal five’ the most likely things to cause serious collisions. Avoid distractions, never drink and drive, don’t speed, don’t touch your mobile phone when behind the wheel and always wear a seatbelt.
"I'd like to extend my thanks to my crew for their hard work on the day. They worked tirelessly to demonstrate the true impact of collisions, and deserve lots of credit for making the message as powerful as it can be."
Cllr Muazzam, Chair of Keighley Town Council’s Events and Community Development committee said: “We are delighted that the Road Safety event was a success at Carlton Keighley School. The event follows a pilot event at the school in 2023. We are committed to helping make Keighley a safer place, including working with schools, communities and emergency services to share these vital road safety messages. If the event helps one young person to make a better choice, then it has been worthwhile. We are looking forward to the next event at Holy Family Catholic School.
“We would like to extend our thanks to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, West Yorkshire Police, Georgina Hurst, Bradford College and of course Carlton Keighley School.”
For more safety advice visit our website HERE or check out the Vision Zero initiative.