EMERGENCY services in County Durham and Darlington have joined forces to promote a scheme aimed at making young people better and safer drivers.

‘WiseDrive – Drive for Life’ is a police-led scheme that since its launch in 2001 has seen more than 13,000 students take part in a series of workshops and practical sessions on a range of road safety issues.

The award-winning initiative is supported by Durham and Darlington councils, the North East Ambulance Service and County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Service.

It launches again on Monday and almost 1,000 students will receive the safety workshops over the three weeks it is running.

Aimed at year 11 students, the campaign aims to positively influence attitudes and behaviour among young motorists, as road collisions are the biggest single cause of death for people aged 16 to 24.

There is a particular emphasis on the ‘Fatal Four’, the most common causes of fatal and serious accidents.

These are; drink and drug driving, failing to wear seatbelts, speeding and distractions such as the use of mobile phones.

Ambulance staff will be delivering a session on the mechanics of injury as well as providing CPR practical demonstrations on resuscitation dummies.

This hands-on training could enable somebody to save a life one day at the roadside.

Firefighters will help deliver the anti-social driving session, with Andy Bennett from their community safety team discussing a fatal collision in which he was a witness and also the person who called 999 for help.

Insp Phil Grieve, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “It’s a sad fact that one in every five newly qualified drivers will crash within a year of passing their test, but we know that most collisions are avoidable.

“This year’s WiseDrive features our colleagues from both the ambulance service and fire and rescue, the first time all three main emergency services have taken part.

"It’s a sign how seriously we all regard the issue of road safety and the commitment we have to preventing further deaths and injuries.”

The event is also being supported by the mother of Nick Davidson, 27 from Middleton-in-Teesdale who died after the Audi A4 he was in crashed into a tree on August 16, 2014, on the outskirts of Whorlton.

The driver, a friend of Mr Davidson’s, was subsequently found to be over the drink-drive limit.

Mr Davidson’s mum, Anita Thompson will talk to some of the students taking part in WiseDrive and see for herself the efforts being made to educate the drivers of tomorrow.

WiseDrive is based at The Workplace, a specialist conference and events venue at Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe.