Co-operative Insurance celebrates success at British Insurance Awards

Co-operative Insurance (CIS) celebrated success at this yearís British Insurance Awards, which were held on Wednesday 4th July at The Royal Albert Hall in London, by winning the coveted Corporate & Social Responsibility Project of the Year Award.

CIS entered the ìToo Young To Dieî project that forms a core part of our ëResponsible Drivingí Campaign. The project saw CIS join forces with Brake, the road safety charity, to produce a road safety education pack. The pack called ìToo Young to Dieî is available to all educatorsí the aim of which to target 2000 schools nationwide with an expected audience in excess of 600,000 pupils/students. The pack includes a hard-hitting DVD and accompanying hand-out booklets plus a Department for Transport-backed presentation.

The pack is designed as a comprehensive resource to help educators run lessons for 15-21 year-olds to raise awareness on how to stay alive on the roads, and encourage them to act responsibly as drivers and passengers. It outlines basic safe driving rules, such as not speeding, not driving after drinking or taking drugs, not driving while tired or on a mobile phone and also gives practical advice about vehicle maintenance.

It shows young people why these rules are so crucial and contains first-hand accounts of the horrors of road crashes, from people who have been tragically bereaved or injured as a result.

The DVD describes in graphic detail the impact irresponsible driving has on victims, their families and the emergency services, who are left to deal with the consequences on a daily basis. The aim of the video is to raise awareness and educate students about the impact dangerous driving has on so many peopleís lives each year. It also highlights how young peoples own behaviour contributes to loss of life and serious injury on our roads.

David Neave Director of General Insurance said: To win an acolade such as this is a fantastic achievement. To be recognised by the insurance industry for such an important project re-afirms CIS's position as a leading 'responsible insurer'. The 'Too Young To Die' campaign is something that we along with Brake hope to take even further
to make a real impact on reducing the number of young driver casualties.

This award represents the impact our campaign has had on various communities and we are extremely proud of our achievements so far. When we were putting together the video and literature material for the campaign we were unsure as to how full and frank we could be as some of the stories are truly terrifying. However we were urged by many of those
involved to include as many of the details of their experiences as possible to help prevent these awful experiences happening to othersî.

ìOur gratitude, thanks and thoughts go out to those people who shared these tragic episodes with us. This is not just an insurance issue but one of fundamental importance to the nations young drivers and we are proud to be at the forefront of such an important campaign.