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Police give Dounreay apprentices a lesson in road safety


By John Davidson

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Young apprentices at Dounreay during one of the driving seminars led by road policing officers from Police Scotland. Picture: DSRL
Young apprentices at Dounreay during one of the driving seminars led by road policing officers from Police Scotland. Picture: DSRL

Police in Caithness have been sharing their experience of attending fatal car crashes with young drivers employed at Dounreay.

More than 100 apprentices at Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) took part in a course to help them think more about the consequences of driver behaviour on the roads.

Highlands and Islands roads police officers delivered the New Driver Early Intervention Scheme, which is aimed at drivers aged between 17 and 25, who are statistically more likely to be involved in a collision.

The course aims to raise awareness of road safety and positively influence road user behaviour.

On Monday and Tuesday, October 25-26, 15 seminars were delivered to the DSRL employees, with a total of 103 young apprentices receiving awareness-raising sessions from road policing constables Shaun Knox and Malcolm Cameron.

Constable Knox said: “These inputs are valuable in influencing driver behaviour in young and new drivers and working in partnership with DSRL has allowed us to deliver this scheme to a large number of their apprentices.

“Being able to share our first-hand experiences of dealing with serious and fatal road traffic collisions, these inputs give us an opportunity to reinforce the message about how easy it can all go wrong on the roads.

“The scheme aims to impact on the way these young drivers will now think when getting behind a steering wheel, remembering that they are not only in control of their lives but their passengers’ lives, and the lives of other road users as well.

“The feedback that we have received since launching the scheme continues to be really positive and we’re keen to engage with as many young and new drivers to influence how they drive, with an overall view to keeping everyone safe on our roads.”

DSRL said it welcomed the opportunity to join with Police Scotland to deliver the sessions to its younger staff members.

Apprentice training manager Carol Robertson said: “Living in a rural location means that our young people are more reliant on their vehicles than perhaps their counterparts in the central belt, and anything we can do to help them be safer on the roads, reflect on their driving habits, and hopefully reduce the number of road traffic incidents, is of huge benefit."

For further information on the New Driver Scheme or to request an input delivered within your organisation or community group please contact NewDriverScheme@scotland.pnn.police.uk


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