Students who are almost old enough to drive will be shown a hard-hitting and heartbreaking road safety presentation in school.

Thousands of students in schools across Dorset will experience Safe Drive Stay Alive, a road safety initiative coordinated by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service on behalf of the Road Safety Dorset partnership.

The campaign targets students in Year 11 and above, who will soon be learning to drive and whose friends may already be driving. The presentation uses powerful personal testimony and dramatic video footage to make the audience aware of the tragedy and suffering caused by road traffic collisions.

Firefighters, medics, police officers, bereaved parents and people who have been directly involved in road traffic collisions recount their stories, often in heartbreaking detail.

Christine Sharma, road safety manager at Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The presentation is hard hitting and upsetting, but we make no apology for that.

“The speakers are real people who have experienced the horror of road traffic collisions, whether as a member of the emergency services, as a victim, or as a parent who has lost a child. It is this truthfulness that makes it so successful. We know that the young people who see this roadshow are affected, and we have seen the number of young people killed or seriously injured on our roads decrease since the programme started. We really do make a difference.”

Between now and the end of April, the presentation will be seen by students at Gryphon School, Sherborne (Tuesday, November 5); Sturminster Newton High School (Wednesday, November 6); Shaftesbury School (Thursday, November 7); Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester (Thursday, November 21); Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis (Friday, November 29); Purbeck School, Wareham (Monday, December 2); Sir John Colfox Academy, Bridport (Tuesday, December 10); Blandford School (Wednesday, January 22).

Sherborne School for Boys will also host students from Sherborne School for Girls when the presentation is held there on Wednesday, November 13, and Weymouth College, Kingston Maurward College and Budmouth College will attend a show at Weymouth Pavilion on Monday, November 18.

If you would like to book the roadshow for your school, please contact Phil Villain on 07500 815924 or e mail phil.villain@dwfire.org.uk