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The Cutting Edge of Car Safety at K College
Thursday, 28 April 2011 17:12
Students of K College at the Brook Street campus in Tonbridge found out exactly what it would be like to be cut from the wreckage of a car when Kent Fire and Rescue Service carried out a demonstration using two students as ‘victims’.
K College Principal, Bill Fearon, said: ‘We have a high proportion of young people who drive now, and who use their cars to come to college and this is essential for their understanding of why they must use a seat belt and other basic road safety laws.’
The Principal tested a seat belt machine that gives a passenger the idea of what an impact feels like at between 8 and 10 mph. He said: ‘It doesn’t look like it’s going that fast but the impact is quite significant. I would think anyone with false teeth would have seen them flying out across the pavement – I’m glad I’ve got my own!’
The demonstration is called ‘Car’n’age’ and is to encourage young drivers and passengers to be responsible for their own and others’ safety while driving. Tutors who set up the visit said many students were shocked by what they had seen.
For public services student, 29 year old Sam Wild, from Longmead in Tonbridge, it brought back memories of when she was involved in a serious car accident when she was 7. ‘My dad was driving when he hit a patch of black ice and hit a tree. We had to be cut out of the car but I didn’t remember much about it because I was so young. There was a lot of noise. This has really brought it back, and a lot of people in our class say it has really made them realize how important safety is.’
Two students volunteered to be in the car cut open by the fire crew. Jasmine Card said: ‘It was scary. I was in a really compacted space and I definitely wouldn’t want to be in that position for real.’
Ijaz Ahmedzai said: ‘I don’t ever want to be in that position again. The fire crews did a great job, but it was definitely scary.’
The Tonbridge fire crews visited K College’s North Farm campus in Tunbridge Wells in the afternoon to repeat the exercise for the students there.
