Young Drivers Pledge Safer Motoring In New Campaign

May 10, 2016 by Southend Borough Council

Young drivers pledge safer motoring in new campaign

Monday 9th May 2016

Southend is part of the county-wide #mysmallchange campaign to help keep young drivers safe.

This scheme calls on young drivers to pledge to improve an aspect of their driving, such as sticking to the speed limits and switching their phones to silent whilst driving.

Passengers can also pledge never to get into a car with someone they know has been drinking.

These pledges are then shared on social media to help raise awareness and encourage peers to come up with their own pledges.

This campaign from the Safer Essex Roads Partnership – which the Council belongs to - also features the chance to win a Ford Fiesta Studio.

Each participant who meets the competition criteria will be entered into a draw. See www.mysmallchange.co.uk for more details.

They can boost their chances of winning in other ways too.

Those who watch a short video, make a behaviour change agreement and participate in three short online surveys will be 32 times more likely to win than someone who only made the initial pledge.

During the 12 months of the competition the car will visit all major towns across Essex and can be seen in Southend on:

• Wednesday 2nd June – Outside the Odeon, top of Southend High Street, 9am - 3pm
• Wednesday 7th July – Outside the Odeon top of Southend High Street, 9am - 3pm
• Thursday 14th July – Shoeburyness High School, Caulfield Road, Shoeburyness SS3 9LL, 9am – 3pm
• Wednesday 3rd August – Southend Community Event, run by Southend Tenants and Residents Federation, Priory Park, Victoria Avenue, Southend, 11am - 4pm http://www.strf.org.uk/events
• Tuesday 16thAugust – City Beach, Southend Seafront, 9am - 3pm
• Wednesday 28th September – Outside the Odeon, top of Southend High Street, 9am – 3pm
• Tuesday 8th November – Outside the Odeon, top of Southend High Street, 9am - 3pm

The #mysmallchange campaign offers ten different road safety topics on which to pledge.

All of these are known to increase a young driver’s risk of being involved in a road crash and include seatbelts, fatigue, distractions and speed.

Each driving style covered by a pledge is linked to one of the animal images made famous by The Honest Truth road safety charity, promoted by driving instructors.

For example, the image of a cheetah represents speeding drivers.

Nicola Foster, Chairman of the Safer Essex Roads Partnership said: “Making a pledge is a great start. However, sharing this pledge on social media massively increases the likelihood of it being acted upon.

“By participating in the follow up communications and videos as they progress through the campaign’s programme, entrants are increasing their chances of winning one of the prizes as well as increasing their Road Safety knowledge.

“The more you put in, the more you get out – everyone wins.”

• Speed-related factors attributed to 16% of young drivers involved in collisions in Essex.
• 8% of young drivers involved in serious collisions impaired by alcohol.
• 21% of young drivers involved in collisions in Essex fail to look properly.
• 31% of serious collisions involving young drivers in Essex also involve a vulnerable road user.
• Tiredness is a factor in 10 young driver collisions each year.
• Essex Police prosecuted over 300 young drivers for no insurance last year.