Crew Commander Paul Harper of Dudley Red Watch has initiated Young Driver Awareness Courses at Dudley Fire Station in response to his own family’s experience with a serious car crash involving his child. These classes are focused on at-risk youth ages 17–24. Each one’s goal is the same—to teach attendees about the dangers of our roads and how we can best address them.
About every three to four weeks, we launch a new interactive session that connects people from different sectors and industries. This encompasses not only learner drivers but those who recently passed their probationary licenses. So far, nearly 200 youth have gone through five sessions, with a few pushed to attend by their concerned parents. This innovative approach, as confirmed through participant feedback, has proved to be extremely relevant and important for the times, helping educate young people develop safer driving habits and behaviors.
Harper decided to create these classes after a traumatic experience of his own. His daughter was critically injured in a one-car crash. The good news is that the child has fully recovered. Enough time has passed that the emotional trauma from the crash continues to be felt by the family. While tragic, this experience motivated Harper to do more, understanding that education and prevention are crucial to safer driving.
“My own experience prompted the idea, but as firefighters, our job is also about prevention – giving people the knowledge to make safer choices before something goes wrong.” – Mr. Harper
Statistics underscore the need for such an effort. Young men drivers are at an alarming risk, four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured compared to those aged 25 and over. Additionally, nearly 20 percent of all vehicle crash deaths in 2023 included a young driver among the victims. By tackling these disturbing trends through education, Harper hopes to play a part in seeing a decrease in incidents of this nature.
Ethan, one of the students in the course, couldn’t have been more grateful for the program.
“It’s really changed how I think about driving. I’d definitely recommend it to other young people.” – Ethan
One of the most gratifying aspects for Harper has been seeing the transformative effects of the courses on the new young drivers and their parents. He noted,
“One of the most rewarding parts has been hearing parents and young people say, ‘my behaviour will change after this’. That’s exactly what we’re aiming for.” – Mr. Harper
