“One of the drivers is not waking up. They’re really badly hurt. This is going to be a fatal.”
As the trees go up, fairy lights twinkle across the county and your Christmas jumpers get dusted off for another airing, we want to remind you of one simple message: driving under the influence of drink or drugs kills.
Now, we know this might not be the festive cheer you wanted to wake up to on December 1. You might think it’ll never affect you - that it only happens to other people.
But sadly the heart-breaking reality is that every year on the run up to Christmas, we face this scenario. Our officers and staff, along with our colleagues in the ambulance and fire and services, attend drink-drive collisions. We find out who is hurt, or in some cases who has been killed. And then we visit their loved ones to say the words no one ever wants to hear.
All very real. All devastating. All avoidable.
That’s what this award-winning video aims to highlight. It tells the story of a road collision caused by a drink-driver, which leaves several people seriously injured and one dead - all told using children’s toys.
Originally released in 2017, it features the voices of children reading a script based on the real-life radio chatter between the emergency services at the scene of fatal collisions, set to a gentle version of Silent Night.
It’s a short video that we hope illustrates the very real dangers and deadly consequences of drink- or drug-driving - and most importantly, the painful legacy such an incident has for those left behind, particularly for children.
If someone gets behind the wheel while drunk, they put themselves at serious risk of harm and even death, and what they have to think about is that they have family and friends who will then forever associate Christmas with their death.
With the Christmas party season now getting into full swing, the risk of people driving under the influence of drink or drugs rises along with.
To try and keep Derbyshire’s roads safe, we’re also increasing the number of patrols so we can catch drink- and drug-drivers in the act and stop them before they cause serious injuries or, in some cases, death.
We do this every year, and over the next few weeks you’ll see us sharing stories of what we’re seeing on Derbyshire’s roads in the hope that the message will sink in.
So if you’re out celebrating with friends and family and you have a drink or you take drugs, find another way home. Get a taxi, get the bus, or get a lift with someone sober.
That way, you can give your loved ones a Christmas to remember for all the right reasons.
29 ноя 2023
