Hard hitting road safety event to drive down road deaths

People in Hereford will be reminded about the potential dangers of driving at Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership's hard hitting road traffic collision demonstration in the city centre on Thursday, November 8th.

The display, to coincide with Road Safety Week, will see crews from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, West Mercia Constabulary and West Midlands Ambulance Service rescue casualties from a crash scene.

The scene, which will replicate a real road traffic collision, will involve a car and three casualties, played by volunteers. The actions taken by the emergency services will be the same as in real collision.

The demonstration will give spectators a detailed account of the actions undertaken by those first to arrive at the scene of a collision, including medical care given by paramedics and the use of cutting equipment by the fire service to extricate a casualty from a badly damaged vehicle.

A number of local organisations will also be on site in High Town including representatives from the Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership team, West Mercia Constabulary, West Mercia Safer Roads Partnership, Herefordshire Advanced Motorists, RoadPeace and Herefordshire Council's Road Safety Unit who will all be handing out road safety information and advice between 10.30am and 2.30pm. Staff from Halfords will also be on hand to advise people about child car seat fitting.

People in Herefordshire are more likely to be involved in a driving incident than they are becoming a victim of crime. However, the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county's roads dropped from 147 in 2005 to 119 in 2006, and Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership is hoping that through education and events such as this, the downward trend will continue.

Geoff Hughes, Chair of Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership, said: "The event is a timely reminder about the consequences of dangerous driving. We are coming to a time of year when our roads can be particularly hazardous due to the weather conditions. Unfortunately, some people may also be tempted to drink and drive."

"Some people might find the display shocking, but we hope that by demonstrating the consequences of dangerous driving we can encourage people to think twice before getting in their car, and continue to reduce the number of unnecessary deaths on our roads."

For more information about road safety, visit http://think.direct.gov.uk/index.html or contact Herefordshire Council's Road Safety Unit on 01432 260947.