Car accident staged to enforce road safety message

Date: 18/10/2010

Emergency services in Blackburn staged a rescue of a man trapped inside a crashed car in order to raise awareness of road safety.

The Lancashire Telegraph reports the incident was part of the launch of Stay Safe Week, which aims to teach young people about the dangers of driving recklessly.

Chief Inspector Kev Evans of Eastern Road Traffic Policing Team said the message is particularly important at this time of year, as there is usually an increase in the number of accidents.

"We've timed this to coincide with the clocks going back and to make people think about wearing seatbelts, whether their headlights are switched on, about pedestrians and the use of mobile phones," he explained.

Mr Evans added these are all factors that contribute to collisions and are made more dangerous in the dark.

His sentiments mirror those of Chief Superintendent Gill Imery, Edinburgh's Divisional Commander, who recently told the Edinburgh Evening News road safety is more important than ever due to the dark nights drawing in.

Posted by Sarah Bailey