4 October 2007

Young drivers urged to 'Grow up. Slow down.'

In the last three years nearly 500 young people (aged 17 - 24) died or were seriously injured on the roads in Kent and Medway.

Young drivers are at risk on our roads. They are vulnerable to peer pressure and risk-taking which leads to them driving too quickly and over-estimating their driving ability. This means that they are more prone to killing or injuring themselves, their passengers and other road users.

To highlight this issue, the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership and Kent Fire and Rescue Service have re-launched the successful campaign 'Grow up. Slow down.'

The campaign is based on research which concluded that young drivers thought the worst thing that could happen if they drove too fast was that they could kill or injure another person, particularly a child. The campaign therefore aims to shock young drivers into realising what could happen if they drive at inappropriate speeds.

'Grow up. Slow down.' launches today and consists of bus back advertising, banners at colleges, magazine adverts and a website (www.kmscp.org/gusd). In addition, a thirty second video is appearing on YouTube as well as the newly launched Kent TV.

Katherine Barrett, Communications Officer for the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership, said "Aside from losing their licence and subsequently their independence, we're trying to get young drivers to think of the horrific consequences of injuring themselves or someone else just because they were driving too fast. We're not just talking about high speeds on motorways, we're talking about all roads. We want young people to drive at appropriate speeds for the conditions of the road, and think about how they'd live with themselves if they hurt or killed someone else."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service's Stuart Skilton said: “We attend 25 per cent more road traffic crashes than house fires, so reducing the number of crashes on the county’s roads is one of our priorities and young drivers are certainly one of our target groups. We believe that linking up with the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership and launching this latest campaign represents an important step forward in our on-going battle.”