ABOUT 1,000 Year 11 students from the Salisbury area will experience a hard-hitting road safety presentation on November 11 and 12.

Safe Drive Stay Alive uses powerful personal testimony and dramatic video footage to make the audience aware of the tragedy and suffering caused by road traffic collisions.

Students from South Wilts, Bishop Wordsworth’s, St Edmund’s, Trafalgar, Tisbury and Salisbury High schools, together with groups from Wiltshire College Salisbury and Avon Valley College, will see the roadshow.

Safe Drive Stay Alive is led and primarily co-ordinated by Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, and is well supported by other major partners, including Wiltshire Police, Great Western Ambulance Service, Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council, Roadpeace and road safety charity Brake.

Since its launch in 2006, the roadshow has been seen by thousands of students, and the organising team is hoping that it will soon be essential viewing for every school in Wiltshire and Swindon.

Ian Hopkins, road safety development manager at Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, explained: “Unless you have seen the presentation for yourself, you can’t truly comprehend the impact it has. Several hundred young people in one place generally leads to a lot of noise, but you can hear a pin drop when the last speaker finishes. It is shocking, it is upsetting, but it works because it is truthful.

“The people who tell their stories do so because they want the audience to understand the dangers that come with being on the roads, and they want to reach every student in Year 11 with their message.”