SERP uses V Fest to promote road safety messages
The Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) delivered road safety messages to around 5,000 festival goers at last weekend’s V Festival (18-20 August).
The annual music festival, which takes place at Hylands Park near Chelmsford, attracts up to 90,000 people each day, and this year featured acts including P!nk, Rudimental, Jay Z and Pete Tong.
Officers from the Essex County Fire And Rescue Service and Essex Highways were positioned within the camp village talking to people about:
- The consequences of drink and drug driving
- Speeding
- Using a hand-held device while driving
- Pedestrian safety
In a new initiative for the 2017 Festival, SERP used virtual reality technology to allow people to experience the horror of a road traffic collision without the pain and consequences normally associated with such an event.
Watch manager Kevin Jenner, Essex County Fire And Rescue Service, said:
“Over the course of the three days we were able to engage with around 5,000 people to discuss road safety risk and consequences.
“Tens of thousands more people also walked past and saw our display, the fire cars and our safety messages, which I’m sure made them think about their road safety when leaving the festival.
“I would like to thank the organisers of V Festival for allowing us on site to speak with festival goers, thereby ensuring they had a great time at the Festival but also learnt valuable lessons.
“We’d also like to say a special thank you to Essex Audi Group who loaned us an Audi S3 fire car, as well as an Audi Q7 for our crews to use around the site.”
24 August 2017