Shock Works on Young Drivers

How do you get through to younger drivers that they could be in a terrible accident? How do you explain that many first time and younger drivers will either kill themselves, a passenger, or a bystander at some point in their early driving lives? How do you get them to understand that a motor vehicle can kill someone if now handled properly, and that it is not a toy?

Well a new safety campaign called “Too Young to Die” is looking to answer those questions. The safety campaign is sponsored by the charity Brake and Co-Operative Insurance. The video is heralded by Anne Bowden, whose son was killed in an auto accident. The car her son was in was being driven by a 17 year old who was driving 20 miles over the speed limit, crashed, and killed both himself and Mrs. Bowden’s son, Anthony. It is shown to students who are looking to obtain a license, to try and show them the dangers before they get behind the wheel.

Another video, “Safe Drive, Stay Alive,” is shown to students between the ages of 16 and 18, and shows an actual car accident that has happened in their area. It shows how people react to the crash – paramedics, bystanders, etc. – as well as the bereaved family of those that did not live. They talk to passengers that did live, and tries to show students the dangers of what can happen from the point of view of those who lived through it.

As car insurance rates are already sky high for younger drivers, especially young male drivers, these videos hope to stop more accidents. If the number of accidents starts coming down, younger people with car insurance will start to see the difference in their rates as well. Not only that, less and less people have to die or end up disabled in some way because someone thought it would be fun to speed or drive their car recklessly.
 

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