Drive Wise Event at York College Construction Centre, Osbaldwick

Students at the York College Construction Centre in Osbaldwick had a visit by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, North Yorkshire Police and the City of York Council Road Safety department. They delivered a 'Drive Wise' exercise aimed at making young drivers, and soon to be drivers, aware of driving dangers and driving safely.

Bricklaying and joinery students saw a safety video and had the opportunity to speak with a crash victim. Some students were placed in a mock car crash situation and experienced being removed from the crashed vehicle by the fire rescue team.

Said Joinery student, Dave Price: “It was really unnerving being a car passenger and experiencing the Fire and Rescue team extract the roof. I hope never to be in that situation again!”

Chris Anderson, Deputy Chief Fire Officer for North Yorkshire and the City of York Fire and Rescue Service says: “Our service has made a commitment to reduce the number of road traffic collision deaths and injuries and we are fully supportive of this event. We know that great benefits can be gained if the driving styles and behaviours of people under the age of 25 can be positively influenced through educational events such as this one. Although we have been successful in reducing the rate of road traffic accidents significantly over the past few years we have still attended over 700 in the York district alone, which is far too many. That experience makes us acutely aware of the heartache caused by such incidents and we will be working hard with our partners to make the roads of North Yorkshire and the City of York even safer through highly regarded events like Drive Wise.”