PlayDeath race 2008
Published: Monday, 11 August 2008, 5:35PM
Quentin Willson reports on the latest road safety concerns and the campaign to have internet postings of boy racers’ dangerous driving stunts taken off the web in a bid to reduce fatalities on British streets.
Tonight did a report on internet postings of dangerous driving stunts in December 2007 and revealed how thousands of ordinary people have been posting their antics on various websites.
We interviewed 18 year-old Naythan Campbell, who was sentenced to four months in jail and a three-year driving ban for filming himself on his mobile as he raced down the M65 near Burney at 140mph, overtaking vehicles on the hard shoulder along the way. Police arrested him after seeing the footage posted on the internet.
That programme also put the driving skills of a group of self-confessed boy racers to the test with British Touring Car legend Jason Plato to evaluate how safe they are on UK roads -- with startling results. After several laps around Silverstone, Jason is asked to rate their driving skills. In relation to one of the lads, he says: “He is a real problem. He has zero technique. He is one of the worst drivers I’ve ever sat with and yet he professes to be passionate about driving. He drives quick; he got nicked for driving at 140mph, he is a liability and he is dangerous, he’s a real problem. If he doesn’t slow down he’s going to kill himself and God forbid, he’s going to kill someone else.”
The Tonight team also set up a panel of experts, including Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs of North Yorkshire Police, as well as AA President Edmund King and a former boy racer, to review the shocking images available for teenagers to watch.
In this latest episode, Tonight revisits the subject and features more internet footage that has since been posted on the web. It looks at the fact that the Culture, Media and Sport select committee said a new industry body should be set up to protect children from harmful content. It also said it should be "standard practice" for sites hosting user-generated content to review material proactively.
This programme also looks at what is being done in Northern Ireland to discourage dangerous driving by young people and whether they should or could be applied in England.
Website links:
1) Department for Transport – Learning to Drive Consultation
http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/dsalearningtodrive
2) Driving Standards Agency
DSA’s vision is “Safe Driving for Life”. The overall mission is to contribute to the public service agreement objective to achieve 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road accidents, in the age group up to 24 years, by 2010 compared with the average for 1994-98.
http://www.dsa.gov.uk/
3) Brake
Brake is a national road safety charity with two aims:
To prevent death and injury on the roads through education of all road users and campaigning for improvements to road safety; To care for people who are bereaved or affected by serious injury in a road crash through support services
http://www.brake.org.uk/
4) Institute of Advanced Motorist
The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) is the UK's leading road safety charity, dedicated to raising driving standards through our Advanced Driving Test, engaging with the road-using public and influencing road safety policy (for example, through the work of the IAM Motoring Trust).
http://www.iam.org.uk/
5) RoSPA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is a registered charity established more than 90 years ago that aims to campaign for change, influence opinion, contribute to debate, educate and inform - for the good of all.
By providing information, advice, resources and training, RoSPA is actively involved in the promotion of safety and the prevention of accidents in all areas of life - at work, in the home, on the roads, in schools, at leisure and on (or near) water.
http://www.rospa.com/
6) RAC Foundation
The RAC Foundation for Motoring is an independent charity established to promote the environmental, economic, mobility and safety issues relating to use of motor vehicles.
RAC vision: Advocating innovative transport solutions for safer roads, safer drivers, greener cars, improved mobility and a fair deal for motorists.
The RAC Foundation was originally set up in 1991 fundamentally as a research arm of RAC. Following the de-merger and sale of RAC in 1999, the Foundation took on a new and wider role to include researching and promoting issues of safety, mobility, economics and the environment.
http://www.racfoundation.org/
7) AA
AA – Advice for young drivers and those concerned about young drivers.
http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/reports/younger-people-christmas.html
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