15 November 2007

High Wycombe town centre will be turned into a crash scene on Saturday next week (24 November) in an attempt to raise road safety awareness in the 17 to 24 age group.

During the early evening, the Guildhall area of the town centre - through which the majority of the town’s night-time visitors pass on their way to pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants - will be set up to show the aftermath of a two-car collision with multiple trapped and injured occupants.

At around 10pm, High Wycombe’s firefighters will begin an extrication to free the trapped "casualties" before handing them over to the care of paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service.

The demonstration will be just one of the events taking place during the evening, organised as part of the Community Safety Partnership's drive to educate young people on the dangers of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, or of not paying full attention to the road while driving.

People passing through the area during the evening will also be able to speak to representatives of Buckinghamshire’s Drug and Alcohol Action team (DAAT), who will be on board Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s exhibition lorry, to find out more about the effects of substances.

They will be able to get first-hand experience of what it feels like to be under the influence of alcohol and behind the wheel, with the help of the organisation’s special “beer goggles” and remote-controlled cars.

Other organisations within the partnership, and volunteers from the Buckinghamshire New University, will also be on hand to provide information and advice on related issues and invite the early evening night-time economy visitors back to watch the road traffic collision demonstration.

The event follows on from a similar post-Christmas awareness drive, which took place in January.

Jo Oliver, Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service's Community Safety Partnership Manager for Wycombe District, said: “We were really keen to replicate the experience for the town centre’s night-time visitors this year after the feedback and comments we received from the people who watched the last demonstration.

“Young people were coming out of the pubs surrounding the Guildhall square as we were mid-demonstration and not immediately aware that it was demonstration - they thought it was a real incident. The view alone may be enough to make them think twice about getting into a car with a driver who is under the influence, or getting behind the wheel themselves.”

The agencies involved in this year’s campaign are:

• Buckinghamshire County Council
  
  
• Buckinghamshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team
  
  
• Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service
  
  
• Thames Valley Police
  
  
• Wycombe District Council
  
  
• Wycombe Watch