A TRAINING scheme aimed at changing the attitudes of young drivers has won a top award.

The Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety’s Wasted Lives Young Driver Education Prog-ramme has been named the 2009 Safety Project of the Year by the North West Institute of Highways and Transportation.

It was launched following the Lancashire Telegraph’s Wasted Lives campaign which aimed to stop the carnage of young drivers on our roads.

The scheme challenges drivers aged 16 to 24 to think about the risks they take while driving and aims to provide a wake-up call about the conse-quences of their actions.

It is free and has seven different modules, including drink driving and speed awareness, that can be run in a day or over a longer period.

The Missing Matthew DVD, featuring the parents of Matt-hew Hannon who was killed while racing his friend along Livesey Branch Road in Blackburn, also forms a key part of the programme.

The programme has been taken into schools and colleges and, since its launch in Sep-tember 2008, has already been delivered to more than 2,700 people.

Rhiannon Leeds, programme coordinator, said: “We are del-ighted with this award that recognises the good work of everyone involved.

“Around 260 young drivers in Lancashire lose their lives or are seriously injured every year.

“The research we have undertaken to test the impact of the Wasted Lives programme shows that it is having a very positive effect on the attitudes of young drivers and their passengers – especially on fac-tors that contribute to serious crashes such as speed, seatbelts, distractions and drink or drug driving.”

The Wasted Lives programme is delivered by the partnership with the help of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

Peter Holland, Chief Fire Officer for Lancashire, said: “As many as 50 per cent of our emergency calls are now to deal with road traffic crashes.

“We are proud to have been key partners and will continue to give it our full support, recog-nising the contribution it is making to encouraging young drivers to take responsibility for their actions, and as a direct result, saving lives.”

For more information contact Lancashire Road Safety Part-nership on 01772 534 531 or at www. wastedlives.co.uk.

PICTURED: Barry Heaps, chairman of the North Western branch of the Institution of Highways and transportation with Linda Sanderson, the partnerships communications manager and Rhianon Leeds, co-ordinator of the Wasted Lives driver education programme for the road safety partnership