New Essex campaign challenges young drivers to rethink speed- because there are no second chances on our roads.
You can reset a game. You cannot reset a life.
That’s the message at the heart of the Safer Essex Roads Partnership’s (SERP) latest speed awareness campaign; There Are No Respawns.
Launching across Essex cinemas, social media and digital platforms this summer, the campaign is challenging young drivers to rethink and confront the life changing consequences that can follow one split second decision behind the wheel.
Using gaming inspired content, There Are No Respawns reminds audiences that whilst games offer extra lives, the roads do not. The campaign seeks to promote positive peer influence and encourage young drivers to look out for their friends and keep each other safe.
To support the campaign, the SERP has also teamed up with Essex-based content creators, including Reid Card, Aki Suthakar and Jodi Stottor.
Collectively reaching hundreds of thousands of young people across social media, they are using their platforms to encourage followers to challenge risky behaviour, support their friends and make safer choices behind the wheel.
At its heart is a simple message: real skill isn’t speed. It’s staying in control and getting everyone home safely.
Ben Wilson is proof that, even after surviving a serious collision, life isn’t the same.
Nine years ago, a serious collision left him with seven broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. Today, he continues to live with memory problems and fatigue and is unable to return to full-time work because of his injuries.
Ben said: “I hope this campaign resonates with young men because it certainly does with me. It’s a shame that it took a car crash for me to slow down and change my driving. My car crash changed my whole life, and I will never be able to return to the life that I used to have.”
Ben completed an advanced driving course in 2025, which increased his situational awareness and defensive driving skills.
He added: “The advanced driving course taught me that everything should be smooth and comfortable for my passengers, which makes my drives more enjoyable for everyone. People used to tell me I was a good driver because I was aware of what was around me. Being aware is important, but I didn’t understand the consequences if something went wrong. That’s what I didn’t realise at the time.”
“There are no respawns in real life. Prepare for your journey, put your seatbelt on, don’t exceed the speed limit and have a safe journey. Save the speed for the track. It’s simply not worth risking your life or the lives of others.”
The campaign comes as data reveals young male drivers remain disproportionately involved in serious speed related collisions. Between 2023 and 2025, 986 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions where speed was a contributory factor. Nearly one in three (29%) of those casualties involved a speeding driver aged under 26, and almost nine in ten (88%) of those young drivers were male, additionally, over the past 12 months, more than 123,900 motorists have been caught speeding in Essex alone.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex and Chair of the SERP Governance Board, said: “There is nothing inevitable about death or serious injury on our roads, but a collision resulting from reckless driving can result in serious consequences.”
He added: “Young drivers remain disproportionately involved in speed-related collisions, so we must continue to confront the attitudes of those who encourage risky driving. Too often, particularly among young men, speeding is seen as a way to gain increased peer status.
“The safest drivers are not the fastest. They are the ones who make good decisions, stay in control and get everyone home safely. This campaign encourages young people to look out for their friends, challenge dangerous behaviour and recognise that one decision behind the wheel can change lives forever.
“Nobody gets a second chance when they are in control of a real car – there is no pause button.”
There Are No Respawns will run throughout the summer across Essex cinemas, social media and digital channels.
For more information, visit: www.saferessexroads.org/no-respawns
