Hundreds of Shropshire pupils watch powerful road safety reminder
More than 200 pupils watched as Newport’s fire and rescue crew staged a powerful visual reminder about road safety at Harper Adam’s University last night.
Freshers gathered to watch as two final year agricultural food marketing and business students, Jessica Spencer and Tinofara Chiku, experienced first-hand an emergency extraction where crews safely removed windows and used heavy duty appliances to cut away a vehicle from around them.
The students were then lifted out of the vehicle on spinal support boards to safety, simulating what has happened in the past on Shropshire’s roads.
The event aims to highlight the risk of serious injury, particularly among new students. On-call firefighter Martin Richardson of Newport station said: “We hold this event each year for Harper pupils as there are some cases where students are at a higher risk of road traffic collisions (RTCs).
"Certain circumstances apply to pupils, some of which include peer pressure, alcohol or mobile phone use.
“These types of demonstrations show first-hand the effects of road traffic accidents and we hope to prevent crashes from happening in the first place.
“We want each pupil here tonight to lead happy and successful lives and hope this exercise will educate them about the dangers that can and do happen on our roads.
"We encourage students to think carefully about decisions that might save their life one day.”
“It also provides training opportunities and realistic training scenarios, ensuring our firefighters are prepared for the wide range of emergencies faced by today’s service.
