Road safety presentation opened up to all islanders

A hard-hitting road safety presentation aimed at reducing speeding and careless driving on island roads is being opened up to the public for the first time this year.

Sponsored by insurance brokers Rossborough, Licence to Kill – a tri-service initiative bringing together Guernsey Police, St John’s Ambulance & Rescue and Guernsey Fire & Rescue – is a presentation shown to Year 11 students each autumn. It shows them the devastating consequences of speeding or using mobile phones whilst driving, and features footage of local accidents and interviews with victims.

‘This is our eighth year of showing 15 and 16-year-olds a very difficult to watch presentation about the sometimes tragic consequences of driving carelessly on Guernsey roads. For a long time we have wanted to open the sessions up to parents, which this year thanks to support from Rossborough, we have been able to do. We are also extending this invitation beyond the parents of the Year 11 students coming along this time, so that anyone interested in seeing the presentation can join us,’ said Gavin Robins from Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service.

‘We strongly believe this campaign has a positive impact on the number and severity of road accidents and we would like to get this message out to as many people as possible, in the hope of saving lives.’

The one-hour presentations take place at the Princess Royal Centre for the Performing Arts and highlight the dangers of speed, not wearing seatbelts, using mobile phones behind the wheel and drink driving.

Ian Stewart, managing director of Rossborough Group in Guernsey, said that the wider the message went, the greater the chance of reducing the number of accidents on local roads.

‘This is Rossborough’s third year of sponsoring the campaign, and we are delighted to be able to extend the invitation beyond Year 11 students this year. Our aim is to get the message home to as many parents and young motorists as we can,’ he said.

This year’s Licence to Kill will run from Tuesday 10th to Thursday 13th October. Students will attend in the daytime, whilst islanders can attend on the evenings of 10 and 11 October at 7pm. There is no cost, but in order to manage numbers please go to http://licencetokill2016.eventbrite.com to register your intention to attend.