Crash! Subgroup Event

CRASH

The Young Essex Assembly in partnership with Essex Fire and Rescue Service and with the support of Essex Casualty Reduction Board are holding a symposium on February 25^th at Towerlands in Braintree aimed at young drivers and their passengers. All schools and colleges have been invited to send 3 pupils from Year 11,12,13 with accompanying staff.

It is widely recognised that young car drivers are a big problem throughout Essex.  Although Essex has been successful in bringing young driver Killed or Seriously Injured casualties down over the years, they are still involved in many more collisions than would be expected given their numbers on the roads.  This event forms part of a wider strategy to keep young people as safe as possible, as statistics show that drivers are most at risk of having an accident in the first 2 years or so after they pass their test. One in five newly qualified drivers has a crash of some description within a year, and RTC's are the single biggest killer of young people aged 15 - 24.

The event will concentrate on one particular incident that happened in Southend on Sea in Essex this year, that involved a significant number of young people.  It will be attended by Officers from Essex Police, Essex Fire Service, and friends and family of those involved in the incident.  Although we will be concentrating on one incident, we will be challenging and discussing various attitudes and behaviours which are commonplace amongst young car passengers and drivers.  The young people that attend will receive educational materials that can be brought back to the school and delivered by the students in an assembly. 

We hope the event will be seen by schools as an opportunity to educate and inform their students about an issue that will affect them, empower them to get involved in safeguarding their peers, and hopefully ensure they do not become a statistic on our roads.

Please contact the YEA office on 01206 762923 or yea@essex.gov.uk for more information.