Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service get national recognition for military road safety course
Dorset and Wiltshire's Road Safety team have won at the Defence Road Safety Awards
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service’s road safety team are being recognised for their work in educating military personnel about being safe on the road.
At the Defence Road Safety Awards the team won a Recognition Award, receiving a crystal trophy and certificate from the Deputy Director General of the Defence Safety Authority, Rear Admiral Thomas Manson OBE, at the ceremony held at RAF Benson in Wallingford last month.
SURVIVE THE DRIVE
In 2018 DWFRS partnered with the Ministry of Defence to deliver a road safety intervention known as Survive the Drive.
As up to 40% of military personnel in the UK can be based in Dorset and Wiltshire at any one time.
Usually the team hold theatre-style presentations, but they had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
Instead, the road safety team developed and delivered a virtual presentation, which was seen by approx. 3,000 military personnel.
Road safety manager Christine Sharma said: “In 2019, after cancer and operational accidents, land-based collisions were the third highest cause of death in the UK Armed Forces, accounting for 20% of mortality rates. As such, the Survive the Drive presentation is an essential education tool, which has been well received since it started three years ago.
“Much like our flagship schools programme, Safe Drive Stay Alive, the intervention uses film and the personal testimony of speakers to educate military personnel on the most common causes of death and serious injury on our roads – including using mobile phones while driving, driving after drinking or using drugs, speeding, driving when fatigued, and not wearing a seat belt.
“However, Survive the Drive also focuses on the unique challenges facing military personnel, who perhaps don’t always recognise the dangers of our roads when they have been trained in warzone scenarios. We also highlight the ‘ripple effect’ of road traffic collisions, and how such incidents can be devastating to the individuals involved, their loved ones, their colleagues and the wider community. We are delighted and honoured to have been recognised for our work.”