The Safer Roads Partnership, a joint force team for Warwickshire and West Mercia Police, has launched a free virtual reality app aiming to alert young drivers to the consequences of dangerous driving.

The DriveVR app offers real-life driving experiences to motorists and passengers aged 16 to 24, and allows users to experience virtual versions of eight dangerous driving scenarios including speeding, using a mobile phone behind the wheel and drink and drug driving.

It is hoped that promoting road safety messages through the innovative app will help deter young drivers from making reckless decisions on the road in real life.

The app will also support the Safer Roads Partnership's ‘Green Light’ programme, which educates young drivers and passengers through interactive workshops in sixth forms and colleges across Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

According to figures from road safety charity Brake, drivers aged 16-19 are a third more likely to die in a car crash than those aged 40-49, while nearly one in four 18-24 year olds crash their vehicles within two years of passing their driving test. Young drivers are also found to be at greater risk on the roads due to inexperience and over-confidence.

Thompsons has a long history of helping trade union clients get their lives back on track following injuries on the road. We have never, and will never, act for insurance companies or employers and we are proud to provide our union clients with expert legal advice and access to specialist care and rehabilitation services. To learn more about some of the union clients we’ve helped, visit the Our Clients page.

Richard Johnson, a personal injury solicitor at Thompsons, said: “We’ve dealt with far too many cases where young drivers have either been injured or have caused harm to others as a result of making reckless decisions behind the wheel. This app is a great way of showing drivers how their actions can result in life-changing consequences and more of its kind should be introduced by police forces across the UK.

“However, although many young drivers are helped to make better decisions behind the wheel, some motorists will continue to flout the law, putting themselves and others at risk. The answer to that won’t be found in new technology but in old style policing – a visible presence. But that needs proper funding rather than the year-on-year cuts this government and the coalition have piled on public services including the police.”