Town centre ‘crash’ in Sutton

Police and Fire Service staged a fake road accident in Sutton town centre planned and funded by Ashfield Community Safety Partnership to raise awareness of the fatal four, particularly among young drivers.

Firefighters and police officers dealt with a ‘road traffic collision’ involving two cars and a pedestrian on Friday.

Put on by the Ashfield Community Safety Partnership, the exercise was designed to highlight some of the main causes of fatal accidents on the district’s roads known as the fatal four - driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and using a mobile phone.

In the staging, the driver of the first car swerve to avoid the pedestrian, only to drive into a second vehicle, who had been drinking and, along with his passenger, was not wearing a seatbelt.

Ashfield Fire Station manager Keith Elliott, who provided a running commentary throughout, said: “Those in the second car would have suffered more serious injuries in a real life situation as a result of not wearing seatbelts,” he said. “The reactions of the driver had also been slowed as a result of his drinking.

“There has been a tragic number of fatalities on the roads of North Nottinghamshire in recent months and I hope that those who came along and who have seen the publicity associated with this piece of work take away some important information from it. It really could save their lives.”

In the run-up to Friday’s event, pubs in Sutton displayed ‘fatal four’ posters and flyers were sent to schools and distributed by Catch-22, an organisation which runs activities for young people in the town.

The McDonald’s restaurant on Priestic Road/Forest Street also handed out leaflets to customers who visited its drive-through.

Street pastors from Hucknall attended to provide support to anyone affected by it.

Leader of the organising group, sergeant Martin Severn, said: “The exercise certainly attracted a lot of attention, with, we estimate, between 500 and 600 people watching.

“We had officers handing out leaflets and chatting with passers-by about what was happening, as well as to those who stayed to watch. News about the event was circulated widely on social media too, so we are confident we achieved our aim of raising awareness about things that can lead to collisions and injuries caused by them.”

The exercise follows a three-day campaign by the Ashfield Community Safety partnership that took place between Wednesday 21st and Friday 23rd May that saw 112 drivers prosecuted.