Schools are being urged to get behind a national awareness week being organised by Goodyear Tyres to put the spotlight on how UK youngsters are taught to drive.
Young Driver Education Week, which runs from October 14 to October 20, aims to spread the word on encouraging earlier driver education to help reduce young driver accidents.
The awareness week is also being backed by Paralympic gold medallist Josie Pearson MBE, who won gold in the discus in the 2012 Paralympic Games. Josie was paralysed in a young driver car accident when she was just 19.
Figures released by the Department of Transport in their annual report on road casualties in Great Britain revealed that 133 young drivers aged between 17 and 24 years died in 2012, while a fifth of people killed or seriously injured in that year were in a collision with a young driver.
Last year, Goodyear launched its pioneering Driving Academy to educate children, aged under 17, about the importance of safe driving. The scheme aims to bring the Highway Code into the classroom as well as getting pupils as young as 11 behind the wheel of a car.
Now Goodyear is urging schools to support the campaign by hosting their own Mini Driving Academy during the awareness week.
Michelle Fisher, Goodyear Brand Manager, said: “We hope hundreds of schools will get on board and show their support by getting as many pupils as possible using the interactive Driving Academy programme, which can be seen at drivingacademy.goodyear.com.
“Pupils get to play a fun driving game while being quizzed about the Highway Code. The Driving Academy also has a competitive element with points given and prizes for the highest scores achieved.
“We hope schools will get in touch to take part in this forward-thinking event. The Driving Academy is free and can be run in any school’s IT suite. It is simple to set up but brings home a really serious message about creating safe drivers of the future.”
Goodyear is also taking its full Driving Academy to several schools up and down the country during the awareness week, including King’s College School, in London, where 150 pupils are due to be put through the academy on October 15.
For more information visit www.goodyear.co.uk.