Cumbria Fire Brigade came along to Brunton Park on Wednesday to give a very down-to-earth presentation to the United Youth team squad in a bid to educate and raise awareness about the dangers of speeding when driving a motor vehicle.
There were no punches pulled by the crew as they delivered their important message - with the theme very much centred on young drivers understanding the responsibility they take when they sit behind the steering wheel in a car.
Eric Kinder said: "The lads come to us at 16-years-old and by the time they leave us at 18 the world has really opened up to them.
"They can vote, they can smoke, they can do a host of other things ... and in general most of them have learned to drive. We can deal with their education with regards to things like smoking and drug abuse in-house, but we can't watch over our young lads once they walk out the door and get in to their car. If they push their luck once they are in their vehicle then it could lead to a really horrible situation, and that's something that we feel we should try to hammer home as much as we can.
"When you look at the other 'sins,' for want of a better way of describing them, there is a way back through rehabilitation and things like that. With a crash in a car, particularly one that has been going at speed, they may not get another chance, and life's too precious for that.
"I just thought it was the right thing to do, with the help of Cumbria Fire Brigade, Docker and his staff, to try to paint a picture of the reality of what speeding around in a car actually means. As I say, every year we have a group of lads who are learning to drive and a group of lads who have just passed their test. The more help we can give them with that new skill the better, in my opinion. An accident can bring an end to their career or, of course, their life, and I think that this type of thing is something that we need to do as a club as we try to help them to become as rounded an individual as possible.
"I'd like to say a massive thanks to Cumbria Fire Brigade for giving us their time. It was a really valuable and excellent period of training. It is something that we will now run every season for as long as I'm here."
