Laura Bagshaw COLLEGE students were this week given a stark lesson in the consequences of dangerous driving. Firefighters from Great Yarmouth and Gorleston mocked up an incident in a bid to get the message across to young drivers that being reckless behind the wheel could result in severe injury or death.

Laura Bagshaw

COLLEGE students were this week given a stark lesson in the consequences of dangerous driving.

Firefighters from Great Yarmouth and Gorleston mocked up an incident in a bid to get the message across to young drivers that being reckless behind the wheel could result in severe injury or death.

Firefighters from red watch cut up a Rover 200 - ripping the roof and doors off - to rescue two volunteer patients.

More than 100 students and staff attended the event at Yarmouth College on Wednesday afternoon and station manager Peter Harris said he hoped the demonstration would have an impact on the students.

He said: “Even low speed accidents can cause serious spinal injuries and that's the message we are trying to get across today, low speed crashes can have fatal consequences. We want to show people what could happen if things wrong.”

Mr Harris said the fire service was trying to engage with young drivers aged between 17 and 25. Students were told that most accidents were caused by speeding, over-taking, drink and drug driving.

In Great Britain three young people are killed on the roads each day and one in five young drivers will have an accident in their first year of driving.

Mr Harris said: “In Norfolk we have a high proportion of car accidents due to the road layout. There are lots of rural roads with hazards of ice in the winter and mud on the roads.”

He added that some recues can be difficult depending on the location. “If a car goes into a water filled ditch it can be tricky but we have equipment to deal with that.”

Students were given commentary as firefighters moved in and worked on the car, rescuing the patients.

Jason Evans, the college's health and safety advisor, said the event was beneficial because it allowed the fire service to reach their target audience.

“We have a lot of young drivers here and this will highlight the dangers.”

Students filmed the demonstration and Mr Evans said they would make a DVD for use around the college.

After the demonstration red watch crew manager Scott Norman said the event had been successful.

“We had a good turn out of students and hopefully by being a visual exercise students will take it on board. I've seen some very bad incidents and after witnessing what I've seen it's important to get the safety message across.”

The fire service will return to the college later in the year to reinforce the message of safe driving by showing students a DVD and pictures from crash scene.