An apprentice from BAE Systems in Rochester helped make the scene of a horrific car crash safer thanks to training she had through Kent Fire and Rescue, and now others have been given the same experience.

She was among bystanders when a Mini crashed into a group of pedestrians on Sir Thomas Longley Road, on Friday, September 30, seriously injuring four people.

Last week, the group of car enthusiasts who meet up on the estate on Friday nights were invited to the centre by fire crews from Rochester to meet Alan Faulkner, experience crew manager, and PC Darren Chapman to learn more about what to do at the scene of a crash. Around 20 people turned up.

Mr Faulkner said: “The reason we’re doing this is we’ve had a couple of incidents in the Medway area over the last few weeks so we feel some of the young drivers could benefit from some education, not only from ourselves at the Fire Service but also Kent Police and other road safety partners such as the Highways Agency.

“So, if they’re driving around in their cars and come across a crash, they know what they can do as a member of the public, to not only make the scene safe for themselves and other road users, there’s so many things people could do if they had a little bit of knowledge.”

The young woman, who has not been named, had previously visited the centre in Marconi Way, Rochester, for the Road Safety Experience (RSE) to learn about what she could do to help if she was involved, or came across a crash.

Mr Faulkner added: “She wrote an email to the team to say we gave her the confidence to deal with the situation and that the scene was much safer because of the things she did with her friends and members of the public who she didn’t even know.

“That is a vital bit of training.”

PC Darren Chapman also spoke to the group about the effects drugs have on drivers.

Drug driving convictions have gone up by 800% in the last year, after police introduced tests at the side of the road.

He also said police would be patrolling Medway City Estate every weekend to stamp out anti-social behaviour and issuing 48-hour dispersal orders.

He said that the police were not trying to stop car enthusiasts meeting up for static meets, only trying to prevent something like the crash a few weeks ago from happening again.

Four men aged between 20 and 50, were taken to Kings College Hospital in London with critical injuries and were later taken off the danger list, but remained in hospital.

For more information, or to book a visit, call 01622 692 121 ext 8365, email roadsafetyexperience@kent.fire-uk.org or visit www.roadsafetyexperience.co.uk