Mayor of Didcot cut free from car to highlight road safety
Video report by ITV News Meridian's Heather Edwards
The Mayor of Didcot has been cut out of a car by firefighters as part of a training exercise to highlight the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, taking drink or drugs and distraction.
The event took place at Didcot Fire Station which is now Oxfordshire's central hub for training.
The Mayor, Councillor Mocky Khan, volunteered to role-play a driver trapped inside a crumpled vehicle, at the town's fire station.
He experienced the claustrophobia of being trapped inside and was forced to rely on the expertise of Oxfordshire County Council's Fire and Rescue Service to cut him free.
Andy Ford, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's road safety manager, said: "As the Mayor of Didcot discovered, it is terrifying being trapped but imagine if you've suffered major injury, or if the vehicle is ablaze, or slowly submerging in water following a crash into a river or lake."
After the Mayor was 'rescued' he was given a guided tour of the new training centre at Didcot Fire Station.
It gives crews an all-weather facility to practice rescue techniques for a range of traffic incidents, from motorcyclists to crashes involving buses and large goods vehicles.
The car cut exercise also helps trainees gain valuable experience using rescue equipment and real people, in a safe and controlled environment.
The four main contributory factors in road traffic collisions across the county are:
Not wearing a seatbelt
Distraction
Speed
Drink and drugs
Drivers and passengers are twice as likely to die in a crash if they are not wearing a seatbelt.
Using a mobile phone when driving increases the chances of a crash by four times.
Research shows that for every mile-per-hour increase in speed, there is a 3% increase in the risk of a road traffic collision.
Read more about the 'fatal four' here.