Project hailed for road safety
A Forth Valley-based project has been hailed for its impact in reducing levels of road-based crime across the region.
The Safe Drive, Stay Alive programme aims to educate youngsters about the threat of recklessness and dangerous activity, behind the wheel - with around 50,000 people having been reached since it started in 2006.
The campaign involves a number of different activities, including a powerful on-stage production, as well as a series of roadshows designed to highlight the potential impact that dangerous driving can have.
Members of the emergency services are also asked to recount their own experiences of major incidents on the road, with survivors also discussing with young people how they deal with their injuries on a day-to-day basis
The stated aim is to see a reduction in the numbers killed or suffering lifechanging injuries in Forth Valley and Clackmannanshire.
And it seems to have been a success, with accident levels falling by almost 200 in the Forth Valley in the latest five year average compared to the level between 2004 and 2008.
The numbers across Clackmannanshire fell by 27 in the period, while Stirling saw a reduction of 104.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alexander Stewart is one of the project’s main supporters and recently attended a performance at the Macrobert Arts Centre.
He said: “It was a privilege returning to the Macrobert to support the Safe Drive, Stay Alive project into 2020 and again I watched the ever more powerful real-life road safety production on stage.
“I later met the youngsters, organisers and members of the emergency services and would like to gratefully thank Alan Faulds for his - and his teams’ - tireless work with this most invaluable campaign.
“Clearly we need to maintain the project’s excellent current road safety statistics, however there is more to it than that, as it’s not just figures that we need to reduce.
“It is also about education, and by having the privilege of meeting the young people, who have had their lives turned around, some tragically in addition to hearing of the admirable way in which they and their families are dealing with their injuries; I wholeheartedly support everyone’s endeavours and will be actively assisting them all in any way I can to help maintain and sustain the survival of the excellent Safe Drive, Stay Alive project into the future.”