Football Stars In Fake Crash

26 February 2014, 10:19 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Notts County Football Club have teamed up with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to help keep young and learner drivers safe on the road.

Capital joined Notts players Dean Leacock and Gary Liddle be cut free by firefighters from the supposed wreckage of a car in a road traffic collision, in a bid to demonstrate what could happen when drivers act carelessly and without regard for their passengers or other road users. 

The event run by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue aims to educate and challenge new learner drivers about their risk of being involved in a crash. 

The Honest Truth initiative sees Nottinghamshire Road Safety Partnership working closely with local approved driving instructors who engage with their students on a range of risk factors including speeding, using a mobile phone while behind the wheel, not wearing seatbelts and driving while under the influence of drink or drugs. 

The initiative aims to change attitudes and behaviours around driving, particularly in young or new drivers, to reduce the number of incidents on our roads. 

'Make Nottingham roads safer'

Nottingham City Station Manager Dave Stevenson said:

'The 17-24 age group makes up just 10 per cent of the population, yet they account for half the number of injuries sustained in road traffic collisions between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am. We want to protect all drivers on our roads, but by targeting young or inexperienced drivers through their driving instructors we can ensure that they are receiving the right messages at the right time in their driving career, and hopefully those messages will stay with them for the rest of their lives.'

Notts County Captain Dean Leacock told Capital:

'This is obviously an important issue and it's important that we get the message across to our fan-base, particularly the younger drivers that there are a number of risks whilst on the road. 

'Hopefully by being involved in this demonstration we can get the point across to the wider community and help make the Nottinghamshire roads safer.'

More information about the initiative, including a list of driving instructors who have signed up to it, is available at www.thehonesttruth.co.uk