Welcome to Ghost Street

A spooky new film is about to give teenagers in the region a supernatural lesson on road safety.

The film aimed at 12 – 16 year olds, will be shown around schools around the North East region to raise awareness of road safety and influence teenagers behaviour to use safety advice as part of their everyday life. 

The film follows Tabby, your average and seriously distracted teenager. Living in a world of mp3 players, gossip and mobile phones until her distraction costs her dearly. Tabby finds herself trapped in an other-worldly place, a deathly-silent street until the ghosts come out to play.

Newcastle City Council worked with the Youth parliament to develop the idea of Ghost Street and have included issues that affect them. 

Cheryl Ford, Newcastle City Council’s road safety services officer, said: “Teenagers naturally expect independence. They travel on their own or with friends more than they used to and are confident that they know what to do around roads and traffic. In fact, they over-estimate their road skills.”

“We targeted teenagers for our film as research shows that around 14 years-of-age is the best chance to influence young people’s future behaviour.”

The film will be distributed across the North East region as part of Road Safety GB North East’s pedestrian safety campaign for November.

If you would like further information about the Ghost Street campaign please visit www.ghoststreet.co.uk or contact Cheryl Ford (Cheryl.ford@newcastle.gov.uk) at Newcastle City Council.

Gateshead College Young Driver Scheme

A new scheme to ensure that young drivers in Gateshead don’t become just another accident statistic gets underway this week (Wednesday 7th October).

Students from Gateshead College will be the first in the region to take part in  a newly-created pre-driver education programme - appropriately, with the college’s Automotive Centre on Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead.

The programme has been developed by Gateshead Council’s Road Safety Team in partnership with the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service and piloted with students from Gateshead College’s Automotive Centre.

The programme aims to challenge new and soon-to-be drivers’ attitudes to the risks associated with driving - before they get behind the wheel. The course aims to let them see first-hand the consequences of their actions both to themselves and to their passengers, family and friends.

To launch the programme, officers from the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service will demonstrate exactly how casualties are removed from crashed vehicles - but to ensure the students experience first-hand some of the horror of being cut free from a crashed vehicle, they themselves will be acting as casualties. Officers from the North East Ambulance Service and Northumbria Police will also be involved in the project.

Councillor John McElroy, Gateshead’s Cabinet member for Transport, welcomes the course. "This is an imaginative and much-needed education programme,” he says.

“Video driving games which offer excitement without responsibility bear no relation to the reality of driving on today’s congested roads - yet this is where many young people get their first experience of ‘driving’.

“Obviously, a traffic accident experienced on a PlayStation will never prepare you for the true horror of a real road accident, and I think it is important for young people to learn before they actually take the wheel.

“If this course can highlight the results of dangerous driving behaviour and help young drivers to consider the consequences of their attitude to driving, then perhaps it will help to save their lives."

Accident statistics demonstrate the dangers faced by young people behind the wheel of a car. Although people aged 17-24 years making up only 9% of licensed drivers in the North East, they account for more than a third (34%) of all car accidents on the region’s roads.