Wasted Lives DVD gets safety award

1:56pm Sunday 11th May 2008

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A HARROWING road safety DVD has won a prestigious award - and will be used to plug gaps left by the government's proposed driving test changes.

The Missing Matthew film charts the story of the Hannon family, who lost their 22-year-old son in a horrific car crash in 2006.

The DVD, produced by the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety (LPRS), has now won the Institute of Highways and Transportation 2008 award for North West Safety Project of the Year.

Matthew had been racing a friend along Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, when he clipped a bollard and smashed into a garden wall.

His parents, Terry and Ann, of Blackburn, helped make the educational resource so that youngsters would learn about the dangers of reckless driving.

Terry said: "We were really chuffed that the judges recognised the important message behind Missing Matthew. It was very hard for us to make the film but we are very passionate about trying to change the attitudes of young drivers."

The Hannons have been strong supporters of the Lancashire Telegraph's Wasted Lives campaign, which is calling for a series of educational and legal reforms in a bid to cut the number of road deaths caused by young drivers.

The award comes as the government announced changes to the learner driver training programme designed to reduce casualty figures.

The changes have shied away from introducing graduated licensing and raising the licence age to 18 - which had been called for by the Telegraph and the government's advisory group, the Transport select committee.

The move has been criticised by the Hannon family, Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and road safety charity Brake.

Instead it has focused on improvements to the test itself and the introduction of a school-based road safety qualification, which will be trialled in Scotland first.

It is hoped that the Missing Matthew DVD, and its supporting educational programme, can be used as an interim measure until the qualification is introduced in England.

Kat Whitemoss, of LPRS, said: "We have long held the view that better education and more training is crucial. Starting this process for under 17 year olds with a foundation course in road safety is excellent news and warmly welcomed.

"However, many vulnerable young drivers on the roads today will not benefit as the system will understandably take time to roll out. With one fifth of all road deaths involving people in this age range, LPRS is launching its Wasted Lives education programme this autumn, available free to all employers and post 16 educational establishments in Lancashire."

For more information call 01772 534 531.