Warwickshire Police’s award winning ASTRA project (Active Strategy to Reduce Accidents) has been running in schools since April 1999. The strategy has had contact with over 500,000 students and is a major educational input to the most vulnerable road users, the novice drivers. Since it’s implementation the force has won the Prince Michael of Kent International Road safety award for work in schools. Prince Charles’ Gulbekian award for education and recently the Criminal Justice System award for outstanding engagement in our community.

The project was originated and is designed and presented by PC 736 Steve Postlethwaite from HQ Community Safety. He can be contacted on 07990 862 608 or by email Stephen.postlethwaite@warwickshire.police.uk.

The ASTRA project is directed at 12 targeted schools and the remaining establishments are covered by WCC road safety who allocate retired traffic officers to present the course across the county.

The course contains many elements of driver education but concentrates on the massive responsibility of drivers and passengers to their community. We say passengers as well following a number of fatal RTC’s that have involved passenger distractions.

The main body of the course is split into 5 main areas of concern.

1. Core responsibility
2. Wrong speed at the wrong time and it’s consequences
3. Drink and drugs related to passengers as well
4. Motorway responsibilities
5. Road death- where a parent speaks about the death of their son

As a result of the whole forces work fatalities are significantly down especially in the category of young drivers.