The importance of road safety was driven home to apprentices yesterday by leading logistics training provider System Training. 

The firm, who deliver Apprenticeships in Logistics and Driving HGV Vehicles, hosted an event for 30 young apprentices in Carlisle featuring practical demonstrations from police, fire and rescue and motorsport stars as part of national Road Safety Week. 

The training provider’s Driver CPC courses, which are delivered to some of the industry’s major players, already incorporate tuition on driving techniques that help to increase road safety and fuel efficiency and help cut down on HGV-related road traffic accidents. 

System Training has worked closely with Cumbria Constabulary’s Collision Investigation Unit and Fire and Rescue over the past few years on training initiatives to help the emergency services better understand safety issues regarding HGVs and LGVs. 

Issues such as drink and drug driving, speeding, vehicle roadworthiness and blind spots associated with large goods vehicles were in the spotlight in order to support the campaign to raise awareness of safe driving by national road safety charity Brake.

Police from Cumbria Constabulary who attended to talk to the apprentices offered a timely reminder of the dangers on the road as they were almost called away from the event to attend a serious crash on the M6.  In the end they were able to stay on and offer the group advice on a wide range of road safety issues, as well as giving them a closer look at the safety features on a police car and motorcycle. 

A Cumbria Fire and Rescue team gave a practical demonstration of their skills by demonstrating how they cut trapped occupants from a crashed car, while World Rally Championship co-driver Scott Martin talked the youngsters through the safety features on a rally car provided by Cockermouth-based M-Sport. 

The event will support the training they have received from System Training and ensure that when the apprentices go into employment they will be best placed to provide advice that can help address the issues that cause road traffic accidents.

System Training Operations Director Tony Higgins said:“At System Training we are striving, through our range of Apprenticeship programmes, to equip our young people with the skills they need to secure employment and to deliver a high quality of training which ultimately provides an added benefit to their employers.  With our road safety event we have achieved just that and I believe our motor vehicle apprentices may now be some of the most knowledgeable out there.  The information they have covered today will help them pass on a benefit to their customers and help improve road safety in the region.”

System Training Apprentice Scott Horn said:“We’ve learned a lot today, from how we should all be driving safer to how cars should be well maintained to prevent accidents; and that information will be really useful when we start working.  This course is a great way for me to learn new skills while still getting paid – that’s very important for students these days.”

Cumbria Constabulary Police Constable Mike Lazonby said:“It was great to be involved with System Training and their apprentice students.  As well as investigating the cause of accidents, it’s very important for us to also try and prevent them, and that’s what today was all about.  They were a really good audience and we got our message across well; if we can prevent just one accident then it will have been a success.”

Crew Manager Frank Davidson from Cumbria Fire and Rescue said: “The apprentice group really are the perfect target audience for our road awareness training as they fall into the 17-25 year-old bracket that are more likely to be involved in a collision.  Our presentation, backed up by the practical demonstration, was very well received and I’m sure they have all taken away some positives from today.”