‘Dream’ car drives home road safety

Officers have taken delivery of a high-powered Porsche Cayman GT4, which will be used to “break down barriers” with young drivers and help deliver life-saving road safety advice. The vehicle has been donated to Norfolk Constabulary by the charity Lind Trust, which supports the development of young people in Norwich and Norfolk. Complete with police livery and interior blue lights, the GT4 will be at the forefront of police engagement and education with young drivers under the #Porsche999 hashtag. Graham Dacre, from the Lind Trust, said: “This is an important initiative to be involved in. The Porsche GT4 is every young driver’s dream and it will be a talking point in their world; I can see them responding well to this initiative.” Norfolk Constabulary will have use of the car for two years for the purpose of engaging with motorists on road safety – in particular young drivers. The force says young drivers are disproportionately represented in fatal and serious collision statistics; in Norfolk over the past five years 61 young drivers have lost their lives while 504 suffered serious injury. Chief Constable Simon Bailey said that only recently they had seen the “sad loss of three young lives in a road traffic collision in South Norfolk”. “Engagement and education are vital elements of the work on road safety undertaken by roads policing officers. I’m confident the use of the Porsche will help break down barriers and enable officers to speak with young drivers and provide road safety advice,” he said. Mr Bailey added: “The GT4 will certainly attract a lot of attention – but that’s the whole idea. We hope the car will act as a conversation starter, which gives us the opportunity to engage with people, but more importantly those hard-to-reach groups like young drivers, and offer practical advice as well as describing what can happen when things go wrong.” The GT4 will be used at events such as the Royal Norfolk Show and taken to areas where car enthusiasts are known to gather. The car will also be taken to schools and colleges throughout the county, and events or areas that are likely to draw crowds of young people. #Porsche999 will run alongside existing initiatives in Norfolk that target young drivers, including the police and crime commissioner’s #Impact campaign and the Young Driver Education Presentation, which is delivered in schools.