Doctor bids to raise road safety awareness (From Gazette & Herald)

Doctor bids to raise road safety awareness

A PICKERING doctor was so concerned at schools and communities in mourning for youngsters killed in road accidents he decided to try and make young drivers more aware of risks.

Dr Tim Thornton, of the Pickering Surgery, set up a group to develop a community programme to help young people understand the realities of road safety.

He said: "I was fed up with the prospect of unnecessary bereavement and the school being rocked by even more sadness.

"Parents, too, go through all that pain. It's like a brick in a mill pond, the ripples stretch out."

Dr Thornton pulled together a group of interested parties that felt as he did. Now they have developed a programme to help young people become more aware of risks on the road. He said: "We are hoping to give passengers empowerment to help them make it quite clear they can tell drivers to slow down or stop. We want young people to learn to see and assess hazards. It's part of broadening their experience."

Dr Thornton believes there is no such thing as an accident. "We are all driving on the edge. We hope we can provide a broadening experience to show life isn't like a video game. Death is forever."

The first pilot course is being run at Lady Lumley's school in Pickering in March. Year 11 students will find themselves in a day-long programme said Gill Garbutt, a group member and also head of the Ryedale detached youth project.

She warned the programme was hard hitting. She added: "There will also be role play, for example, with young people at a disco and someone who tries to ply a driver with drink."

Other members of the group include police, road safety representatives, someone from community education, St John Ambulance, a driving instructor and two Lady Lumley's sixth formers.

North Yorkshire has double the national average of road accidents involving young people aged between 15 and 24 according to a report from the University of York.

What is more, pre-driving education programmes are ineffective. The study found that young people aged between 15-17 who took behind-the-wheel simulation and educational classes were at significantly greater risk than those who didn't.

Youngsters with 'experience' were more likely to get licences younger and were driving at an earlier age and were found to have more chance of having an accident.

The report shows that a community programme which targets drink driving, seat belt use and speeding can significantly reduce the number of fatal crashes.

Chairman of the group and former Lady Lumley's teacher, David Warin said: "Young people we spoke to identified lack of public transport as a problem. People who could drive and had cars were often asked to take people to places.

"We are piloting this in Lady Lumleys. It's not to replace existing road safety programmes, but to add to them."

Updated: 16:36 Friday, February 23, 2001