1. Car Passenger Safety Years 10 & 11
If you are not showing this presentation to your own class or tutor group, make sure you have spoken to the usual teacher or tutor to see if any students have been involved in any crashes or any of their family or friends have been killed or seriously injured. There are two short video clips and if they think anyone should not watch them then please make appropriate arrangements for that student.
You will need internet access and to have found, on YouTube, the following (or other suitable clips on the topic of teenage passenger safety) : “Road Safety, Backwards” at Slide 10; “Road safety, Stuart Paramedic” at Slide 13; “Julie” is also appropriate between Slides 7 and 8.
Slide 1-Introduce self.
X Today I’m here to talk about car passenger safety.
because unfortunately too many people are killed and injured on roads – and sadly many of them are teenagers.
I am not trying to cause distress or upset but some of the video clips etc are hard hitting & I don’t know what personal experience of road collisions you have – if you find it too much please just leave quietly and speak to me afterwards.

2. THE FACTS: number of people involved in road crashes every day in the UK in 2012:
Number of deaths
Number of serious injuries
Number of slight injuries 5 63
468
Slide 2
The facts are that every day (2010 Department for Transport)
X 5 people are killed on British roads,
X 68 people are seriously injured and a further
X 490 have slight injuries.
So let’s put that in some context :- for each of the 5 deaths a day, a family somewhere in the UK will have received a knock at the door from a police officer, to tell them that their loved one has been suddenly killed.
Many of the 62 serious injuries a day are life-changing, such as brain damage, limb loss and paralysis.
Road crashes differ from many other common causes of death in that they are always sudden and unexpected and they often affect children and young people.
X Sadly road crashes are the biggest killer of year-olds and the second biggest killer of 5-14 year-olds (after cancer) in Great Britain.
Many of those killed and injured are your age!
Road crashes are the biggest killer of year-olds!

3. Slide 3: Have a look at this graph
Slide 3: Have a look at this graph. It shows the numbers of children and young people killed and seriously injured as car passengers in Great Britain in (If the students at the back are unable to see explain the age bands) what do you notice immediately? (Numbers begin to rise in the age group but shoot up dramatically in the category)
Ask the students to discuss why they think this may be happening

4. Slide 4
Look at this chart: It shows Gloucestershire car passenger casualties between again it is broken down into age groups.
You can see by far the highest numbers of accidents happen to young people in the year old age group.

5. Slide 5 I need you to face the facts:-
It is a fact – car passenger casualties’ peak in the 15 – 19 age group!
IT IS A FACT -a massive one in three car passengers killed on Great Britain’s roads are under 20!
IT IS A FACT that when a young car passenger is killed or seriously injured the driver is nearly always below the age of 25.
If RURAL School:-
[IT IS A FACT that in Gloucestershire most car accidents where passengers are killed or seriously injured occurred on rural roads – so living in and around the Forest of Dean, a rural area, means that there is an even greater possibility that, as a car passenger, you will be involved in an accident.]
IT IS A FACT – YOU guys are entering the statistically most dangerous period of your lives as car passengers!
If Appropriate:-
[I know that, sadly, many of you are aware of a number of young people from this area who have been involved in really horrible crashes over the last few years. We don’t want that to happen to you!]
So that’s why I’m here today – I don’t want to cause further upset, but I want to spend some time thinking about the problem of car passenger safety. I’ll be asking you for your thoughts in a moment.

6. What are the main causes of crashes and fatal injuries?
The Fatal Four!
Not wearing a seat belt
Distracting the driver
Drink and drugs
Speeding
Slide 6 So what do you think are the main causes of car crashes?
X The four major factors we sometimes call the Fatal Four – they cause the vast majority of crashes and resulting deaths and injuries between them –
X Seat belt not worn
X distracting the driver
X drink & drugs (and tiredness – these are together termed ‘impairment’)
X speeding.

7. At what age are you responsible for wearing a seat belt?
Seat belts
At what age are you responsible for wearing a seat belt? 14
Slide 7 Seat Belts – Wearing a seat belt is probably the single biggest thing you can do to protect yourself when travelling in a vehicle!
X At what age does the law say YOU are responsible for wearing your seat belt?
X 14 – Does that surprise you? Research suggests that one of the most significant problems in YOUR age group is the reduction in seat belt wearing. Most children up to the age of 13 years wear seatbelts. However, from age 14 – when you become responsible for wearing your own belts, seat belt wearing rates drop!

8. Seatbelts – how many people wear them?
Back seat passenger
(child)
96%
Front seat passenger
96%
Back seat passenger
(age 14+)
78%
The Driver
96%
Slide 24 The Transport Research Laboratory do annual surveys of seatbelt wearing and in 2009 the results for Great Britain were
X Drivers 96%
X front seat passengers 96%
X back seat child passengers 96% but
X back seat passengers aged 14 and over were only 78%.
So you can see that while nearly everyone wore their belts as front seat passengers the rates drop dramatically when young people and adults ride in the back of the car. This is a big issue as in a crash everything unsecured will move. If you’re sitting in the back of a car with your seat belt on, but your mate next to you isn’t wearing his, if there’s a side-impact crash, who’s going to get hurt? YOU! I’m sure many of you have seen the TV ad campaign which showed the teenage boy, travelling in the back of the car without his seat belt and flying forward and killing the driver of the car – his mother. That ad is based on a real life story!
During a recent Road Safety day in Stroud, in about 4 hours when the police were checking cars on 3 separate roads, 23 people were stopped because they weren’t wearing seatbelts. Those people were putting their own and other peoples’ lives at risk.

9. Reasons not to wear your seat belt!
It’s not comfortable
Crease your clothes
Makes the driver think you don’t trust them
Car cramming
Don’t think you need one
It’s not cool!
Slide 9 So why might you not wear your seat belt? explore reasons with them - Research suggests that some of the most common reasons given for not wearing a seat belt are:
X that they are uncomfortable;
X they crease your clothes;
X wearing them offends the driver by suggesting that you don’t trust their driving;
X car cramming;
X don’t think they need one;
X not cool!
As statistics also show that you are twice as likely to die in a crash if you are not wearing a seatbelt (Think Website), this is obviously a major source of concern – are these good enough reasons? I’ll let you think about that one!
While you do let’s have a look at this video clip:-

10. Show ‘Backwards’ clip at this point
Slide 10 Show ‘Backwards’ clip at this point.
I think that says it all! Without the seat belt they are all badly hurt and the guy in the back ends up out through the windscreen. With their belts on they might need to buy a new pizza but they are all alive and not badly injured. In real life however remember – you won’t get to rewind for a second chance!
Just before we move on from seat belts – one final point, like all equipment, seat belts will only work if used correctly - so do make sure you wear it properly, so that the belt is over your shoulders & hips – the strongest parts of your skeleton

11. The Fatal Four! Not wearing a seat belt Distracting the driver
Drink and drugs
Speeding
Slide 11 Let’s go back to our ‘Fatal Four’, we have looked at the seat belt issue; let’s now move on to examine the other factors.
As I said in the introduction when a young car passenger is killed or seriously injured the driver is nearly always below the age of 25. It takes a lot of concentration to drive a car safely; anything that distracts the driver from what they are doing endangers all of the car occupants. Research shows that young drivers are more likely to crash if they have young passengers in the car with them. – Why do you think that is?

12. Why young passengers increase the accident risk
Driver takes more risks, shows off
Passengers distract driver
Driver and passenger less likely to use seat belts
Car cramming
Peer pressure
Drugs and alcohol
Slide 12 Possible reasons for groups of young people in cars being more at risk than solitary drivers
X Driver takes more risks / shows off - or thrill-seeks by taking risks like speeding, and trying to pull off dangerous manoeuvres. Be aware that this could be because the passengers are egging the driver on to take risks and do things that they do not feel comfortable or safe to do! As passenger you need to let the driver drive and not interfere!
X Passengers distract drivers - this might simply be by what they are saying or doing, shouting /jumping about/ being silly /mobile phones / texting / music - travel sensibly, be aware that the driver needs to concentrate – keep the party for when you get there!
X The driver and passengers may be less likely to belt up – we have already thought about why this might be, for example because of being worried about being regarded as boring or uncool.
X Car cramming – don’t wear seat belts as too many in the car – as we have already seen this is not a good idea, only have the number of people that there are seat belts for. But the more people in the car the more distractions there are in the car – fact - accident rates rise as the number of passengers a young driver carries rise!
X Peer Pressure – We have already talked about not encouraging the driver to take risks or drive recklessly. But if they do the passengers may be worried about telling the driver to slow down or drive more carefully because they think they’ll be regarded as boring. However if you feel that the driver is taking risks or driving dangerously – speak up and ask them to slow down or drive more sensibly. It can be hard to have the courage to do this especially when you are out in a group – but if you don’t say something think about what could happen…
X Effect of alcohol or drugs on drivers and passengers –we are all aware that drivers shouldn’t drink or take drugs because of the impact on their judgement and driving ability. However we seldom think about the consequences of drunk or stoned passengers! Alcohol and drugs make you behave as you wouldn’t normally – you become louder & more antisocial, more prone to risk taking - all of which make it more difficult for the driver to concentrate and drive safely!

13. Show ‘Stuart paramedic’ clip at this point
Slide 13 run ‘Stuart paramedic’ video clip

14. SMART CHOICES:
Only get a lift from someone who you trust to behave sensibly when driving
Only get a lift from someone who is sober, licensed and insured
Always belt up front and back – check everyone else does too
Never distract the driver or encourage them to drive dangerously
Tell the driver to slow down if they’re going too fast
In conclusion then – I think we have seen that keeping yourself safe as a car passenger is all about making Smart Choices!
Slide 14 So here are the basic rules of car passenger safety:-
X Only get a lift from someone who you trust to behave sensibly when driving
Don’t get in the car in the first place if you’re not sure the driver will drive safely (i.e. only travel with someone you know very well and trust to not put your life at risk).
X Only get a lift from someone who is sober, licensed and insured
Never get a lift from anyone who’s been drinking, taking drugs, or who is (or might be) unlicensed or uninsured. Remember even very small amounts of alcohol – like half a pint of beer – or drugs affect drivers’ reaction times)
X Even if you know your driver is safe, you should still belt up front and back – because you can’t predict what other drivers on the road will do, and it’s one of the quickest, simplest ways to reduce your chances of death or serious injury in a crash.
Check everyone else in the vehicle is belted up too – you could be a life-saver. Plus bear in mind that if you’re a front seat passenger, and the person behind you isn’t belted up, they could kill you in a crash.
If it’s taking you a minute to get your seat belt done up, tell the driver to hold on before they set off.
X Make sure you don’t do anything that could distract the driver or encourage them to take risks – like telling them to speed up, or turning their stereo volume up.
X And if your driver is taking risks – like breaking speed limits, or talking on a mobile while driving, tell them to stop. Don’t be scared to speak up for safety – even if it’s a parent driving! The prospect of being in a horrific car crash is far more scary. If you feel at risk and the driver is refusing to drive safely, then ask politely to be let out in a safe place. Carry a mobile phone with you in case of emergencies like this. Ideally, you should do everything you can to avoid getting into a situation like this – by thinking very carefully about who you get a lift with.

15. Agree these tactics with your mates –
Have the courage to say “NO”
Agree these tactics with your mates –
it’s easier to stand up for safety if you’ve got someone to back you up!
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is:-
Slide 15 Have the courage to say “NO”.
X Finally, try to agree these tactics with your mates. Talk about what you’d do in different situations (like being offered a lift by an older friend) and agree safe strategies. It’s much easier to stand up for safety and make smart choices if you’ve got back-up.
Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership
August 2013