LHYCA

Picking up Momentum by Andrew Murray

Part 1

Click here to read part 2

I was sitting in the drivers seat of a car (that wasn't mine) covered in blood and screaming and shouting for help. Someone I'd never met before was face down, apparently unconscious, in the passengers seat.  Help arrived, but they were too late in attending to me and I ended up slumped over the steering wheel. But at least Travis was playing on the radio, that's some consolation I suppose.  John Ferguson said: "It was a really good experience, I really enjoyed myself and I really learned something" .  This wasn't the most twisted accident ever, but a mock situation set up aspart of the highly successful Momentum pre-driving Programme!

I was invited along by Neil "Fallon" MacArthur to get a feel of exactly how this program works, and the fact that I've already started driving (badly) may really help tell you just how useful this course is. There wasn't one workshop that was held over the two days of the Programme that didn't teachme something. Something important. You really don't realize just how badlythings can go wrong, or could go wrong behind the wheel of a car until you are shown the consequences. However, the point of Momentum isn't to scare you into not sitting behind the wheel of a car. It's to prepare a person for driving and to ultimately make them safer drivers - and more knowledgeable.   Most people that sit behind the wheel of a car think that they are 'safe' drivers, and you always hear people complimenting others as being exactly that, but Momentum really makes you question whether there's such thing.  Rather than making you feel as paranoid as I'm probably sounding right now it makes you more aware, and obviously that's a very good thing.

The Programme consists of driving lessons, talks, a variety of workshops and several rather difficult ice-breaking games. So difficult, in fact, that the people who set them up even struggled to solve them! Although at times it can be hard-hitting ultimately Momentum is very enjoyable, which leads me into my "bloody car accident". Before you get the wrong idea, NO, they DID NOT set me up in a major accident to 'teach us all a lesson'!  Few drivers ever expect to be involved in a major accident - whether it's as a driver or witness. Unfortunately it's probable even fewer would know what to do if there actually was one. Before Momentum I would have had to count myself as one of these people in each category. Actually that's a lie - I COULD say what I would have done - panic! One workshop teaches you to not do this and instead explains exactly what you should do instead. Participants are taught the do's and don'ts of first aid and are taught the main points including how to put a person in the recovery position, and how to do so safely and how to perform CPR. Next this workshop brings me to the start of this article. Participants are put into a series of mock accident scenarios, and then have to 'save' the people involved in them. A lot of fake blood later and there I was - a car crash victim! I was in a real car (obviously a real, uncrashed, stationary car) and was given a passenger who was 'unconscious'. Unfortunately for me those who arrived at the scene decided against saving me and went to work on my pal without giving me a second thought. Charming! AND she was a hitch-hiker in my imaginary 'car crash victim' world - she knew the risks before stepping in my vehicle!!! So I ended up 'collapsing at the wheel' due to 'blood loss'. Can't win 'em all I suppose.

Another workshop that I found pretty striking was based around speed limits and stopping distances, but stumbled into the territories of car accidents and drink driving at times. It was held by someone who has experiences first hand the results of these problems, PC Neil MacDonald of Stornoway Police Station. Rather disturbingly he explained that there is no such thing as a 'safe' car, airbags and safety mechanisms are no safeguard: "I've been in road accidents involving these vehicles when it just looks like the people are sleeping, when they are actually dead". Every word he said was interesting, though at times very shocking. I don't think anybody had any idea that the stopping distance (breaking once you have taken notice of a hazard) at 70 mph was a whopping 96 meters. It just shows you how dangerous a car can be. Even at low speeds the stopping distances were pretty far, enough to do a lot of damage if you didn't take note of a hazard quickly enough. On the subject of alcohol Neil disturbingly said: "The drink-driving problem in the islands is one of the worst in the country per head", really emphasising the need for these momentum workshops.

The workshops were not all about accidents, the course also prepares participants for both their driving and theory tests. People are shown the basic mechanics of a car - and since my knowledge of this consisted of 'a
car has an engine' obviously I learned something. Through practical exercises participants learn how to change a headlight bulb and how to change wipers among other things that they probably just didn't know beforehand. As I've said the course is hard-hitting at times and the most disturbing part, I found, of the course by far was a picture of a car
accident victim. We were shown a photo of a woman - still alive - that looked like something out of an 18 rated movie. The picture was so graphic I don't think it'd be allowed to be printed here. Her skin was ripped off, one of her eyes was missing, her nose was smashed in, her lips were no more - the best way I can describe her face was that it resembled a brain, with the only signs of it being a face being a dislocated eye in the right hand corner and the teeth of her top jaw bloody and visible with no lips. Quite honestly it's one of the most disturbing images I've ever seen in my life. It was the kind of picture that, at least in he short term, hopefully in the long term could change someone’s driving.

Even though I've already started driving I learned loads from Momentum, and I think because of it I'm probably a better driver. I'm not saying I'd be tearing up the roads at 60 mph otherwise, but I think every new driver has room for improvement, and perhaps with the number of crashes over the past two years involving drivers under 25 the option of a 'Momentum post-driving course' would be a good idea to help cut this number. I'd recommend anybody who is just starting to drive to take this course as it would prepare you for so many things in so many ways, and ultimately is fun. It's not about shocking the participant, it's about making them think about their actions and by doing this it hopefully makes them more aware.