SOME 1,300 Year 11 students from across west Wiltshire area will experience a hard-hitting road safety presentation in Trowbridge next week.

Safe Drive Stay Alive uses personal testimony and dramatic video footage to make the audience aware of the pain and suffering caused by road crashes.

Firefighters, medics, police officers, bereaved parents and people who have been directly involved in road traffic collisions recount their stories, often in heartbreaking detail.

Students from Kingdown School, Warminster; Stonar School, Atworth; Warminster School and St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, plus Wiltshire College, The Clarendon College, John of Gaunt School and St Augustine’s Catholic College, all Trowbridge, will see the show on 8-9 October at the Civic Centre in Trowbridge.

Safe Drive Stay Alive is a Wiltshire and Swindon road safety initiative coordinated by Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, Partners include Wiltshire Police, SWIFT Medics, Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council, NHS Wiltshire and Honda UK.

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 and Rescue Service, said: “The presentation is hard hitting and upsetting, but we make no apology for that. The speakers are real people who have experienced the horror of road traffic collisions, whether as a member of the emergency services, as a victim or as a parent who has lost a child.

"It is this truthfulness that makes it so successful. We know that the young people who see this roadshow are affected, and we have seen the number of young people killed or seriously injured on our roads decrease since the programme started. We really do make a difference.”