A GRIEVING mother whose son was killed in a car crash is now sharing her experience with youngsters to try to prevent more deaths as part of a road safety campaign.

Friends Nick Davidson, 27, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, and Grant Benson, 21, of Barnard Castle, died after their car hit a tree and burst into flames near Barnard Castle following a night out on August 16 last year.

Now, Mr Davidson’s mother, Anita Thompson, has teamed up with the police, fire and both Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council as part of their annual WiseDrive initiative, designed to educate young people about road safety through a series of workshops.

Mrs Thompson spoke to Year 11 pupils at the latest of the three-week campaign today (October 6), which will target about 1,300 students from County Durham and Darlington.

Topics included drink and drug driving, restraints, distractions and speeding – which the police call ‘The Fatal Four’, responsible for about 90 per cent of crashes.

Speaking about sharing her experience, Mrs Thompson, 49, said: “It’s hard, I will not deny that but I just keep thinking if I want to help prevent families going through this in the future then getting involved in WiseDrive is a positive step forward.

“It’s a great way to educate our young drivers about the aspects of driving and also give them a bit of insight into the devastation that can be left behind if they take unnecessary risks.”

“There will be times when they will have to make choices whether it’s as a passenger or driver of a car and theses choices don’t necessarily have to be bad ones – my son made a bad choice and we are left to pick up the pieces because it’s not just about what happens to them, it’s about the devastation left behind for the families and friends,” the mother-of-three added.

“Even if we can just stop one person, just one, from making the same fatal choice then we feel we have achieved something.

“Nick would have been devastated at all the upset of his actions because that’s the type of person he was but I do know he would say ‘Do whatever it take Mam, you have got a voice’.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham, Ron Hogg, also attended the event and praised Mrs Thompson for sharing her experience.

He said: “It really takes an awful lot from her point of view and it’s all very well talking to the children about something like that but it touches a different nerve.”