Geraint's a winner with Pass Plus Cymru

A Swansea teenager has scooped a wheely good prize. Nineteen-year-old Geraint Phillips from Birchgrove has won £250 for taking part in a Wales-wide driving scheme aimed at giving young drivers more experience on the road.

Geraint signed up for the Pass Plus Cymru course coordinated by Swansea Council's Road Safety Team and the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

His name was drawn from a list of all participants who returned their evaluation form on completion of the course.

Over 500 young drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 have completed the course in Swansea in the last three years.

The course has been based at Morriston Fire Station since September 2006 and aims to promote road safety to newly qualified young drivers by enhancing their knowledge, skills, attitude and understanding through the provision of theoretical and practical driving instruction.

And passing the course can also give young drivers access to cheaper insurance.

Geraint said: "I thoroughly enjoyed the extra training that Pass Plus Cymru gave me and I picked up a lot of useful tips and advice as a new driver. I recommend it for all those who have just passed their test."

Station Manager David Phillips said "The Fire and Rescue Service attend many incidents where people are seriously injured or killed as a result of a road traffic collision.

"We believe that by educating young and newly qualified drivers we can hopefully influence them to become better and more responsible drivers and, in the long term, we'll see a substantial reduction in the number and severity of such incidents.

"Pass Plus Cymru is one of a number of very successful road safety schemes we run in partnership with the Police and Road Safety Teams."

Jeff Green, Swansea Council's Road Safety Officer, said: "We've had a lot of success in Swansea by encouraging young people to take part. This will hopefully help reduce the number of accidents in Swansea involving young drivers.

"If anyone in your family is a newly qualified driver living in Swansea, I'd urge them to reserve a place on the next available Pass Plus Cymru Course."

A Prize Draw is made every three months. All Pass Plus Cymru participants who have returned their post-course questionnaire during the previous three months will be entered into the draw. The £250 prize is sponsored by GEM Motoring Assist.

David Williams, GEM Motoring Assist's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We're delighted to sponsor these prizes for a second year. Any initiative that gives novice drivers extra training and support deserves encouragement and GEM Motoring Assist is delighted to invest in safer and more responsible driving."

The cost of the whole course is £20- a massive discount from the normal cost of between £120 and £150. This is made possible by a road safety grant from the Welsh Assembly Government via Swansea Council's Road Safety Team.

Visit www.dragondriver.com for more information on Pass Plus Cymru.