HUNDREDS of students have been learning about the dangers of driving while distracted thanks to a series of dramatic demonstrations.

As part of Road Safety Week, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service visited York College with North Yorkshire Police and City of York Council, to take part in Drive Wise and Live & Learn talks with students.

York Press:

Firefighters took a number of badly-damaged vehicles to give students an idea of what it feels like to be cut free from a crashed car, with live demonstrations and a series of talks.

Jane Proud, watch manager in York, said the demonstrations aimed to raise awareness about dangers of driving “especially to young drivers who think they will live forever”.

She said: “If we have fatalities on the road in North Yorkshire, they generally do involve young people. When I go and sit in on these sessions and look around at the group of young people in there, it saddens me to think that within a couple of years’ time at least one of them will have actually had a road collision.

“If we can reach out to just one of those people to make them think about their options when they are driving, then I think we’ve done a good job.”

A-Level student Andrew Cross said: “I was recently in a road accident and thankfully this kind of equipment was not needed. Now I am more respectful of people on the road and the activities at college have made me even more aware of the dangers of dangerous driving. It does not always have to be about you in the driving seat, it is also about what other people on the road are doing.”

York Press:

Annelise Brook who is studying Uniformed Public Services watched one of the demonstrations, and said: “It’s awful to see what fire fighters have to do at a traffic accident.

“It must be horrific for anyone involved in an accident and the fire fighters are under so much pressure to get them out safely. The equipment they use is so heavy and they are very skilled in their jobs. It’s been an eye-opener for me.”

Glenn Miller, head of student services, said the events were “investing in the citizens of the future”, and 50 per cent of the college’s students did not live in York, meaning the road safety awareness raised would benefit far wider than the city.

He said: “It’s been a very, very positive two days. The feedback we’ve received from students is that they’ve really enjoyed the sessions. It’s hard hitting, it’s had an impact on them, they’ve been thinking about it and really listening to what’s been said and learning a lot from it.”