Greater Manchester Police have launched their 10th annual campaign to teach young people how to be safer on roads.
In the last decade, there have been 133 young driver related deaths on the roads of Greater Manchester alone.
In response to this issue, Greater Manchester Police launched their ‘Safe Drive Stay Alive’ Campaign back in 2013.
The scheme has now returned for another year, and over the next fortnight, thousands of young people will hear from emergency service representatives, as they take to the stage to convey how dangerous driving can be.
Colin was a big Manchester City fan
Members of Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Rescue, the North West Ambulance Service, and the NHS will be joined by some family members who have lost loved ones in road traffic collisions.
One of those is Ann Marie Hornsby, whose son Colin was killed in a car accident five years ago. He was a back-seat passenger, when the young, inexperienced driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into another car.
Hornsby recalled the night of her son’s accident, stating that she will always have a sick feeling in the “pit of her stomach” until: “the day I die, when I can hold him in my arms again.”
She added: “That night, he had no money, and I gave him 20 quid, and I said, ‘go and get some beers with your mates’…I always think I wish I’d never have given him that 20 pounds, cos’ I always think ‘was he going to get beers because of me?’… I don’t want anybody to ever forget my Colin, because he was my baby. And he lived.”
Also, part of the campaign for this first time this year is Calvin Buckley. In May of this year, he lost his partner – Frankie – and their unborn baby – Neeve – in a road traffic collision on the M66.
Adil Iqbal, 22, was filming himself driving at 123mph when he lost control and hit Frankie’s vehicle. Both Frankie and Neeve died as a result of the crash.
It came just a week after Calvin and Frankie had hosted their gender reveal party – where they found out they were having a baby girl.
He described the feeling of this loss, saying he had gone from being “full of hope and optimism” and “excited about the future”, to “being left with complete devastation” and his world “completely crushed and turned upside down.”
Both Frankie and Neeve died as a result of the crash
Frankie’s family
The ‘Safe Drive Stay Alive’ campaign is targeted at 16 to 18-year-olds, who are either about to start learning to drive, or have already passed their test.
It aims to highlight the dangers of driving in a shocking, yet emotive way, to change their attitudes towards how they approach getting into a vehicle.
Simon Dowling, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, said: “My message would basically be to slow down.
"It’s far better to be alive the following day… our motto is ‘Drive Safe Stay Alive,’ and I think that sums it up.”