Students find crash victim’s mum’s presentation upsetting
AN EMOTIONAL speech was given to students yesterday by a mother whose son died in a road accident six years ago.
Every year representatives of the emergency services run the presentations, entitled Licence to Kill.
They are given to Year 11 students and warn of the dangers of driving.
‘It felt like my heart was being stabbed over and over when I was told Josh [her son] was not OK,’ Becci Hey said as she recalled the evening of his death.
The students heard that Josh Bryant was a 20-year-old passenger in the car of a friend who lost control of the vehicle on a Hampshire road and crashed into a tree at 65mph after braking.
Ms Hey recalled going to identify her son’s body and attending the funeral.
‘No parent should ever have to do that, no parent should have to attend their kid’s funeral. Six-and-a-half years later and it doesn’t get easier. People say time heals, but that’s a load of rubbish.’
She urged the students to drive safely when they get their licences and not to be afraid to ask a driver to slow down if they are speeding.
‘Although the boys were driving in country lanes that they had grown up on, Josh’s death was avoidable if the driver was not going so fast.’
Student Wil Wilkes, 15, said: ‘It was really hard-hitting but people need to see the effects of what could happen.’
He said it was powerful to see first-hand how the accident affected Ms Hey.
Alex Scott, also 15, rides a moped and said the presentation has made him think twice to make sure he is driving safely.
‘A lot of people probably think it will not happen to them,’ he said.
Firefighter and road traffic collision instructor Gavin Robins said: ‘I 100% believe these presentations save lives.’
While a number of students found the presentation upsetting and left the room, Mr Robins told the students: ‘Some of you may have left the room because it was upsetting, at the emergency services we do not have that option.
‘Please think about what you have learnt today and please be careful.’
The police officers at the presentation spoke about the fatal four – speed, seat -belts, driving under the influence and distractions, which account for more deaths and serious injuries than anything else.
