Simulated crash scene at Tremough to heighten students’ awareness

Students and staff arriving on Tuesday 11 May were met with a simulated crash scene involving a car and a motorcycle on the entrance road to the Tremough Campus.

The hard hitting scene graphically illustrated the dangers to motorcyclists and marked the beginning of a day of activities at Tremough in a bid to reduce road casualties in Cornwall.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, Cornwall Council Road Safety Unit and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary worked together to provide students at Tremough with information about the very real risks facing motorcyclists on Cornwall's roads.

Martyn Addinall from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said: "By using this very hard hitting display, we are attempting to communicate with drivers and motorcyclists regarding the dangers that they face as road users on Cornwall's roads. We believe that by using this joined up approach and incorporating various key agencies, students will get a real idea of how to keep themselves and others safe when driving or riding."

Statistics back up the message:

• Between May 2005 and August 2009 motorcyclists made up 2% of the road traffic in Cornwall but represented 26% of all fatal casualties.
• Between May 2005 and August 2009 there were 37 fatal casualties involving motorcyclists in Cornwall.
• The motorcyclist was the most blameworthy road user in 76% of these collisions.
• Loss of control and poor overtaking manoeuvres were the primary cause in 89% of the collisions where the motorcyclist was the most blameworthy road user.
• Between May 2005 and August 2009 all motorcycle rider fatalities in Cornwall were male.

The morning finished with a presentation to discuss the reactions to the day's events.

Darren Berrey, Community Fire Safety Officer for Road Safety said: "Sadly, motorcyclists are a consistently over represented group within casualty statistics in Cornwall. By bringing together key agencies, a holistic approach is being taken in an attempt to highlight the issues facing motorcyclists in Cornwall. This event will allow us to raise awareness amongst motorcyclists about how they can help themselves to be safer on the roads, whilst reminding drivers of the importance of looking out for bikes, particularly at junctions."

Tremough Campus staff have been working closely with partner agencies in a consistent bid to improve the safety of students.

During the event Cornwall Council Road Safety Unit were on hand to provide students with road safety information and advice addressing the issues surrounding motorcyclists in Cornwall.

With the B3292 and A39 being recognised as high risk routes for motorcyclist casualties and collisions, Tremough is an appropriate venue for this hard hitting event.

Samantha Finneran, fxu president welfare (FXU is the Students' Union representing students from the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth) comments: "This is a great opportunity for the local fire service and police to bring a really important message to our students and staff. Since much advertising has become background noise, a staged event will be a great way to wake everyone up! Drive safe, ride safe. The staged incident will hopefully send people away thinking seriously about things like wearing a seatbelt, paying full attention to the road and other road users, keeping to speed limits and also not getting behind the wheel (or handlebars) while under the influence of alcohol (or any other drug...) I'm looking forward to the buzz it will create on campus!"

If you require any special assistance to help you attend any of our events or have questions about event accessibility, please get in touch by emailing events@falmouth.ac.uk or telephoning 01326 213756.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

The University College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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