400 Rugby students see hard-hitting stage show aiming to highlight the dangers young drivers face

The show was held for 400 students to see.

A hard-hitting stage show highlighting the dangers that young drivers face was presented to 400 students last month.

CEMEX Safe Drive Stay Alive (SDSA) was presented in the Temple Speech Room, Rugby School on February 22 to an audience of 400 students in years 12 and 13.

SDSA is a professional stage show which has been running in the UK since 2000 - and it was introduced to Rugby School in 2017.

Emergency service personnel were present to explain the human reality of collisions on the road.

The initiative aims to show young people why, as young drivers, they and their passengers are so vulnerable in their early years on the road and what they can do to reduce this vulnerability.

Young qualified drivers make up seven per cent of the total driving population but they are involved in 24 per cent of all serious and fatal crashes.

One in six young drivers will become involved in a crash within their first two years of driving.

The show uses testimonies from officers in the emergency services about their real experiences in dealing with the aftermath of serious road crashes - from crash survivors and the bereaved.

The show left a mark on the pupils, with some sharing their views afterwards.

Pupil Cookie said: "This talk was hugely impactful for me - seeing the reactions of people who had to deal with car crash fatalities struck me, as something as simple as wearing a seat belt or not having a drink whilst you’re out makes such a huge difference.

"I learnt a lot about the effects of the internal environment of the car.

"Having recently passed my test, it’s taught me to be more cautious about what time I’m driving and how long I’m driving for, considering my inexperience.

"I’m going to be far more careful about driving and definitely make it clear to other friends that they need to be careful too."

Max said: "The Drive Safe talk was deeply moving and caused a lot of reflection within myself and within my friendship group.

"With us being able to drive and in high risk groups, we all related and empathised with the stories which we heard.

"Whilst we all know the law, the talk gave us the reality of getting it wrong and definitely will influence our future action on the road – making us, in future, think before we take actions with

consequence which we do not wish to live with."

This year’s event was organised by Rugby resident George Atkinson, who has campaigned for road safetysince his daughter was killed as a pedestrian in London in 1998.

George said he would like to thank CEMEX for their sponsorship and Rugby School for allowing their students to witness this life-saving road safety show