The DVLA and Driving Standards Agency (DSA) are backing Go Safe’s Deadly Mates campaign to educate young people about the consequences of poor driving and the importance of peer pressure in getting young motorists to drive carefully and slow down.
Run by Go Safe – the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership, the Deadly Mates campaign aims to educate young people about the dangers and consequences of poor driving and the importance of peer pressure in getting young motorists to drive carefully and slow down.
22 DSA Driving Test Centres across Wales are supporting the campaign, supplying thousands of leaflets to young customers on ’10 ways to lose your licence’ and placing posters on their display boards. The DVLA are also supporting the campaign in their centres across Wales – Swansea, Cardiff and Bangor.
Chief Executive of DVLA, Simon Tse, said:
“Britain’s roads are the safest in the world, but we cannot be complacent. That is why DVLA support the Deadly Mates campaign: the friends of newly qualified drivers are often best placed to encourage good driving and challenge bad behavior.”
Chief Executive of DSA, Rosemary Thew, added:
“We work very hard to help young people become safe and responsible drivers. If you reach six or more penalty points in the two years after passing the test, you will lose your licence and have to pass the theory and practical tests all over again. DSA supports the Deadly Mates campaign because it helps the friends of novice drivers understand their role in keeping our roads safe.”
Jim Moore, manager of Go Safe – the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: “We devised Deadly Mates after a report revealed that a certain group of young drivers aged 17-24 were unlikely to be affected by shock tactics in some road safety campaigns. Instead, Deadly Mates looks to change their behaviour by targeting peers to encourage these drivers to slow down. The message is simple – if you have a friend that drives too fast, they can take your future away from you in a second.
“In Wales, between 2005-2009, 164 young people aged between 17 and 24 were killed either as drivers, passengers or riders in road traffic accidents – over a quarter of all fatalities. We hope with the support of the DSA and DVLA in distributing our ’10 ways to lose your licence’ leaflets and posters, we can continue to raise awareness of the risks of reckless driving and peer distraction and directly help reduce the number of accidents and deaths of young people on Welsh roads.”
Deadly Mates is funded and managed by the Wales Road Casualty Reduction Partnership and supported by the four Welsh police forces, local authorities, Welsh Assembly Government, HMCS and the emergency services.
For further information on the campaign please visit www.gosafe.org and its sister site www.deadlymates.com.
Photograph: (Julie Palmer – Head of Business Development, DVLA) (Angela Smith) (Jim Moore Partnership Manager, Go Safe) (Garry Monk, Captain, Swansea City AFC) (ACC Nick Croft, South Wales Police)
