Senior fire officers are staging a major public exhibition on car crashes aimed at educating Shropshire motorists in the wake of a dozen drivers being cut free from the wreckage of their vehicles in and around the roads of Market Drayton.
The "Road Traffic Crash Experience" at Market Drayton Fire Station on September 23 will feature a demonstration from retained firefighters using hi-tec cutting equipment to show how car occupants are freed after a collision.
Involved in the event will be road safety experts, ambulance and police.
"We have had a spate of road crashes over the past year which have resulted in 12 incidents where people were trapped in their cars and had to be freed by the fire and rescue service," said Assistant Divisional Officer Phil Brooks.
"Much of our time is spent at road crashes across the county and we want to get the message across to Shropshire motorists that they must take more care on our roads."
Driving at speed and not slowing down on wet roads coupled with poor car maintenance, tyre blowouts and a lack of concentration are the causes of many road crashes, he said.
The A53 Shrewsbury to Newcastle road at Market Drayton and the A41 near the market town had been the scene of "too many" incidents, added Mr Brooks.
More sophisticated cutting equipment had been introduced into the fire service to cope with today's tougher built vehicles.
A similar event was held recently in Edgmond, near Newport, to educate students at Harper Adams Agricultural College after a series of car crashes in which teenagers were killed.
