23 May 2008
Young offenders with a history of motoring offences from the local Youth Offending Service are set to attend a Vehicle Crime Awareness Day, in an attempt to highlight the dangers that their actions can have.
The programme, which is to be held at New Inn Fire Station on 16th May, will have the primary aim of bringing home the real consequences of committing vehicle offences to those who are already involved with their local Youth Offending Service, having committed similar offences.
Throughout the day, the youngsters will be taken through a programme, which due to its serious message is a graphic and salutary experience. The participants will even watch an extrication scenario and subsequent "death" of a pregnant woman through illegal driving of a motorbike, which clearly demonstrates the consequences of so called "joy-riding".
Operational Manager of the YOS, Ron Boden said, "Vehicle crime and arson are offences that affect many people's lives - not just the immediate casualties and victims. Awareness days such as this are an excellent means of illustrating to the youngsters the real consequences that their actions can and do have."
Previous Vehicle Crime Awareness Days have proven extremely successful in that many participants of the programme have fed back to their Youth Offending Officers their comments on how their eyes have been opened to the effect that vehicle crime has on the families, individuals, victims, local communities and the emergency services after participating in the programme.
So successful have previous awareness days been in fact, the re-offending rate for participants from the local Youth Offending Service currently stands at an impressive 0% - that is, every participant that has taken part in the programme from the locality has refrained from committing vehicle offences again.
Community Safety Manager, Howard Rees said, "These awareness days really are partnership working at it's best. With participation from organisations including South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, as well as Gwent Police and the Welsh Ambulance Service, the youngsters involved in the programme are being informed and educated from all angles with regards to their past behaviour and the effect that it can and very often does have, not only on themselves, but on the victims, their families and the wider community too."
BRAKE, the road safety charity surveyed young people in Wales and it revealed that an average of 8 young drivers and passengers are killed or seriously injured every week on Welsh roads.
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