A MOTHER whose son was killed in a car accident has joined members of the emergency services to warn teenagers about dangerous driving.

Clare Brixey, whose son Ashley was killed in October 2004 when the car he was travelling in flipped into a swimming pool, has joined the Safe Drive Stay Alive roadshow, which was launched in Trowbridge Civic Hall on Tuesday.

Hundreds of school pupils, aged between 16-19 attended the event this week where they were shown a video and heard first hand stories from the emergency services as well as harrowing accounts from people affected by road accidents, including Mrs Brixey.

She said: "Losing my son at the age of 20 was the most unbearable situation I've ever had and I want to prevent other people from having to go through what I've been through. "I'm doing this to try and save this younger generation's lives. We don't want to stop our children having fun, we just want them to come home."

The Safe Drive Stay Alive roadshow has had success in other parts of the country and was pioneered in Wiltshire by assistant divisional officers Steve Law and Steve Williams. Mr Law said: "The message to young people is they must realise when they are inexperienced they are more likely to make mistakes.

"The young people are quite affected by it when they come out and have said it's a worthwhile experience. "They come into the hall quite bubbly but the delivery of what we show has such an impact in the first few minutes you can hear a pin drop."

The last speaker in the roadshow is a firefighter who was involved in a car accident when he was 18. He lost control of his car and it spun off the road killing the passenger, his best friend.

St Augustine's student Francesca Boyle, 17, who attended Wednesday's event said: "Hearing him talk about how his best friend died made me cry. You just don't expect something like that to happen to you. "The whole thing is very shocking and hard hitting.

"It really made me think about the seriousness of things that can happen and gave me more confidence as a passenger to tell the driver to slow down."

Police and paramedics have also been involved in the roadshow. Alan Morris, operations manager for west Wiltshire Ambulance said: "The worst things about road traffic collisions are seeing parts of people you wouldn't recognise or the quiet moments after an accident that are the worst when you think about the loss to loved ones.

"The message we want to give to these young people is think and drive safely. "Significant injuries could be totally avoided if people drove a bit slower, more sensibly and with more concentration."

The roadshow will be returning to the Civic Hall in Trowbridge from March 21-23.