 Ae, yr atsigwch ymddegau mwy ar ffordd, yn fwy o gyfnod agorffyn, yn fwy o ffordd. Rydyn ni'n brydu cael ei bod yn teimlo eu cyfl�beth a bai! Rydyn ni'n teimlo ei fod yn bynnag! Felly, rydyn ni'n teimlo eu hyflenni'r cyflot yn ffôr ac yn ddifadog nagwyd yn defnyddio'r cyflestr. Rydyn ni'n teimlo ei fod yn bryd gyfer y cyflod. Rydyn ni'n teimlo i fod yn dda, am beth gweithio eich gwybodaeth, i chi i gweithio peu Now, I call on Alexander Stewart to open the debate, please. Thank you. I'm delighted to have this opportunity of securing this member's business debate this evening. I'm also extremely grateful for the cross-party support that my motion has received on Safe Drive Stay Alive project. It gives us the opportunity in this chamber this evening to recognise the wonderful work that's taken place, but also to look at the challenges that are currently facing the projects as it goes forward. I'm delighted that some of those who are involved with the project have been able to join us in the gallery for the debate this evening. I'd like to acknowledge the attendance of Melanie Mitchell, who is the local community champion for Tescos in Alloa, and Alan Forge, who is the local area liaison officer for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. In addition, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank, in particular, my Mid Scotland and Fife colleagues, Mark Russel, Alex Rowley, Clackmannan and Dumblane's MSP, Keith Brown, and Ian Smith of the Alloa advertiser, who have all been actively supportive and campaigning as we have gone forward and have been involved in a petition for the cause itself. Like its counterparts throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK, the Safe Drive Stay Alive project in the region aims to educate teenagers and young adults about the potential severity of the consequences of risky, reckless and dangerous driving. That has attracted around 40,000 youngsters over the past 11 years. I first attended one of those events back in Forfer, when I was a member of Tayside's Joint Police Board. I must admit, after leaving the event, I was feeling quite in shock. It was a very harrowing experience and it had a very punchy, heart-hitting answer to the whole process. The heart-hitting nature of the project is, I believe, what makes it so effective. Each event has contributions from many people affected by a car accident. For some, such as emergency services, the implications of dangerous driving are something that they too often have to deal with. Their life-saving work is sometimes what we should all commend and be grateful for. The participation of individuals who have been involved in an accident or lost someone close to them is very much part-played when they are dealing with the situation on stage. A car accident can have a life-changing situation for someone and it turns the world upside down. The inclusion of real people recounting real experiences of severe injury or loss really makes the young people who are attending those events think about the potential consequences of their reckless driving. The success of the Stay Drive Stay Alive project since its introduction in Scotland in 2006 has been a real success. Back in 2006 to 2008, the average of 11 people who died between the ages of 16 and 25 in driving accidents. In 2014-15, the figure had staggeringly dropped to zero, none, nil. That is an outstanding achievement and highlights the importance of ensuring that future young people ensure that the experience of driving is something that they take away with them. Organising the event of this nature costs money. We recognise that. The regional campaign has a budget of about £23,000 to put on the event. In the past, it had received funding from the three local authorities in the former central region council areas. The funding is now in jeopardy and there have been some discussions about how we progress it forward when councils are looking at budgets and reducing some of that input. It is also the first time that we have seen Safe Drive Stay Alive projects brought into doubt. I had some experience of that when we found that it was struggling to find funds and a place for it to be performed and survive. As a member of the community safety committee and the community planning partnership, I was instrumental in helping to find an alternative venue that was less expensive to ensure that we could involve and become part of that project. I recently found out from Stirling council that they are very supportive of the project and will continue to provide funding. I welcome that. They are putting their money where their mouth is. At a budget meeting in Falkirk last week, councils rubber stamped the cost towards running a week-long safety awareness campaign. The council has always valued the event as a tangible show of young people and the dangers that they face across the community. We have issues when it comes to Clackmannanshire council, which has had a few of its own troubles in recent times. We have to keep a watchful eye on what is happening across that council area because we need to ensure that they can also complete and fit the jigsaw. I hope that today's debate helps to highlight the importance of the projects and the lives of our young people. It is essential that we all work together across the chamber to ensure that the important project and the opportunities that the project gives to young people are continued across the region that I represent but across Scotland. We must do all that we can to maintain, sustain and retain this invaluable lesson in road safety. In conclusion, I pay tribute to all who have attended, supported, participated and funded this life-saving project. All the families who have suffered the loss of a loved one or whose loved one has suffered life-changing injuries, I offer my heartfelt condolences to them. Deputy Presiding Officer, working together, we can achieve much more and I look forward to seeing this outstanding project continuing for years to come. Thank you. Thank you very much. I call the open debate speeches in four minutes, please. David Torrance, we fall by Liam Kerr. Mr Torrance, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to thank Alexander Stewart for securing this debate in chamber today, aimed at preserving this important and effective educational programme, Safe Drive, Stay Alive. I want to take a few minutes to tell you about a aforementioned programme, the Safe Drive, Stay Alive, road safety initiative, which is essential to Fife's efforts to reduce traffic-related facilities and educate young people about road safety in my constituency of Gercody. The Safe Drive, Stay Alive project is an annual community road show that delivers thought-provoking messages to thousands of young drivers by demonstrating in realistic terms the lethal consequences should fail to understand and accept the responsibilities when getting behind the wheel. In my constituency, the show runs one week annually in late autumn at the office halls theatre. Its impact color spans far beyond that of its average theatre performance. In the show, members of emergency services share stories of horrific traffic accidents and suggest how they might have been prevented. Victims of debilitating road-related injuries speak about how their lives changed in an instance after just a few moments of carelessness. Bereaved individuals share their loss and implore students to think about their actions behind a wheel. Young people are provided with a framework of safe driving, and experts share tips about how to be aware on the road. Road safety awareness can be a tricky subject to navigate in an educational setting. Safe Drive, Stay Alive does a tremendous job of balancing the tragic nature of road-related collisions with what can be done to prevent them. After seeing the physical and emotional damage that is done by road-related collisions, students depart the event, feel the harrowing effects of dangerous driving and are committed to preventing reckless driving. Central Safe Drive team marked its 10th year and 100th show in Stirling this month, since its founding by Central Safe Drive, more than 40,000 school pupils from across Fort Valley have seen the show. The results speak for themselves. This expertly crafted event has contributed to a decrease of 43 per cent in five road casualties since 2006. In 2006 there were 1,056 road-related injuries, and in 2012 there were 549. At the same time period there has been a 65 per cent decrease in fatality. In 2006 there were 20 in 2012 there were 7. That down-road trend in fatality has continued across Fife up until 2015. Aside from a reduction in bereaved and grieving families, a reduction in road collision injuries and deaths has resulted in a lower demand for emergency services. A money-spent deal with road traffic casualties, the Safe Drive Stay Alive has contributed to financial savings in the region of £45 million. For its tangible impact and extraordinary production, the Safe Drive Stay Alive project won the most effective road safety traffic management and enforcement project at the 2012 Scottish Transport Awards. Last year saw Safe Drive Stay Alive Central win a prestigious emergency service special award from Central FM for its contribution in reducing road casualty numbers within 16 and 25-year-olds. The show has been adopted by other community safety partnerships throughout Scotland and the United Kingdom. It is supported overwhelmingly by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Extreme and robust external evaluations of Safe Drive Stay Alive were undertaken in 2011 and 2012 by NHS Fife, and these evaluations identified a major change in attitudes for attendees about safe driving. The 2011 evaluation, completed by 538 attendees, demonstrated a decrease in speeding and an increase in seat belt use, with almost 85 per cent reporting that it always wears a seat belt. It is an amazing approach to road safety education, an accessible and especially engineered programme that provides effective in its aims to reduce traffic-related injury and death, will be eliminated without some kind of aid. A petition circulating centre of Scotland now has many signatures, including many members of the Scottish Parliament, from many different parties calling on the programme's continuation. If a programme is not supported, thousands of pupils will lose the opportunity to learn vital road safety lessons and our roads will suffer. I acknowledge and praise the work of Safe Drive Stay Alive as done in my constituency and beyond. It is imperative that we maintain this project for its potential to make a difference in my constituency and across the wider Scotland. It is up to us to ensure that Safe Drive Stay Alive gets the resources that it needs to continue serving our constituencies. In conclusion, Presiding Officer— I was just thinking that. I would like to once again thank our other student for securing this debate and also give thanks to all those who supported this motion and continue to support the amazing work of Safe Drive Stay Alive. It is not the way to do it because I will stop you anyway even if you do not look up. Liam Kerr, please. We follow by Alec Rowley. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. First, I congratulate my colleague Alexander Stewart on securing the member's debate. I am particularly pleased to speak in this debate because, just over 31 years ago, at around 9.30 in the evening, I was standing shivering in the icy darkness at the side of the A702 near Bigger, with—you do not need to know the details—you can all see the scar running the full length of my forehead following a terrible head-on car accident. Any project that educates any driver, let alone teenagers and young adults on complacency, recklessness or dangerous activity behind the wheel and, of course, the outcomes and impacts of that behaviour must be supported in my view. In Scotland, we have a very noticeable and persistent problem of young drivers being involved in a high proportion of accidents on our roads. Road Safety Scotland statistics show that, despite only accounting for 10 per cent of licence holders, young drivers are involved in over 20 per cent of accidents on our roads. Accidents that, in 2015, included 162 deaths, 1,500 serious injuries and over 10,000 casualties. The chamber will, by now, expect me to talk about the northeast. I am sad to say in this debate more than ever, I must, because, according to last years reported road casualties in Scotland 2015 report, the roads in the northeast were the most dangerous in Scotland. The A956 in Aberdeen is ranked as Britain's fourth most hazardous road. Aberdeenshire and Murray had 429 reported injuries, accidents and casualties, of which 189 were deemed serious. Studies have shown that there were more fatal accidents in Aberdeenshire in 2015 than anywhere else in Scotland. That is terrifying, because, behind every statistic, those are real people, real families and real lives. We are still faced with a monumental challenge to reduce casualties and encourage sensible road behaviour. The solution must be educating our younger generations to use our roads more safely. Projects such as Safe Drive Stay Alive are vital in achieving that. It is a collaboration between local authorities, the emergency services and businesses across Scotland to target younger generations to underline the consequences of reckless driving. The events deliver hard-hitting truths and first-hand accounts from the emergency services, survivors and relatives of those involved in road accidents and communicate the traumatic and harrowing aftermath that road accidents caused to family, friends and Scottish societies a whole. I must flag that members of our hard-pressed emergency services give presentations in their own time based on their personal experiences. Does it deliver a solution? Well, 40,000 attendees in 11 years suggest so, and, as highlighted by the motion and Alexander Stewart, road deaths in the 16 to 25-year-old age group dropped from an average of 11 between 2006 to 8 to zero in 2014-15. I responded to my own crash by passing the Institute of Advanced Motorists, now the IAM road smart test, when I was 18, to ensure that I was driving as safely and responsibly as possible, but that is not an option open or attractive to everyone. This project, and those like it, potentially is. So we must continue to support projects like this. Last year, the Minister for Transport launched his strategic road safety plan, in which he emphasised the Scottish Government's conviction that one life lost on Scotland's roads is one too many and further expressed that the ultimate vision was a future where no one is killed on our roads. I agree. I was only this morning discussing with the Association of British Insurers their support for programmes that support young driver safety, but the project is under threat due to cuts to local government budgets. As highlighted by the motion, the project experienced great difficulty raising funds for 2018. It would appear that it requires a mere 23,000 to keep going, and I very much hope that Mackay's magic money tree that we heard so much about last week may bear one more gift this year. Alex Rowley, please, to be followed by Mark Ruskell. Presiding Officer, can I begin by also thanking Alexander Stewart for bringing forward this motion? I should say that both Mark Ruskell and myself have put forward similar motions. We did so because each of us supports the fantastic work and achievements of the central safe drive group and, specifically, the safe drive stay alive roadshow. I would like to place on record my appreciation for the time given by staff from the Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the NHS and all the volunteers who contribute to the campaign and the event that aims to inform and educate young people across the fourth valley and, in doing so, to reduce the number of road traffic accidents involving young people and so to ensure that fewer young people are killed or left with life-changing injuries. I had the absolute privilege of attending a safe drive stay alive event in February at the McRobert Arts Centre in Stirland. The event was planned and delivered with the intention of achieving maximum engagement from the young people in the audience. Although, as a counsellor, I had been involved previously in getting the funding for safe drives stay alive in Fife, I had never attended such an event before. It started with a DJ and a lot of music, a big fireman bouncing up and down on the stage and lots of people dancing, and eventually including myself as part of the audience. It was a real good feel. I could see why that would have been so attractive. Is there any footage of this? To young people, I hope not, but I could see why that was so attractive. It was a great event, it was lively, it was really, really good. Then, as I sat down for the actual show to begin, a young girl sitting next to me passed me a box of handkerchiefs, and I took out a handker and the box went along. I thought, right, okay. But I have to say that I was then caught up in what was a very powerful delivery of a hard-hitting message. At times, auditorium was in complete silence. You could not fail to be moved by the stories being told or the real-life contributions from survivors, Jennifer Howe and David Galloway, who experienced life-changing injuries as young people or, tragically, of those family members who had lost loved ones and were there to tell the story. Each of them had to come to terms with the shocking and cruel reality that too often follows on from a few moments of carelessness either behind the wheel or as a passenger in a car. The evidence suggests that the approach taken by Central Safe Drive Group is having a real impact. As Alexander said, some 40,000 young people have attended the annual event in the last 11 years. In the years that the project has been running, road deaths in the 16 to 25 age group have dropped from an average of 11 between 2006 and 2008 to an astonishing zero count in 2014-15. That is a fantastic achievement and it recognises all the hard work that has been put in by all those volunteers. There was a concern around funding, and I have written to the three councils in the area all that I have to say has come back to me very positively stating their commitment to future funding. That is important. I have also written to the cabinet secretaries for justice and health and hope to hear back from them because I think that we need to have a co-ordination to ensure that this group of hard workers are not running about trying to get funding. I understand that eventually the last bit of funding was put in place by an organisation in England who put a grant in. I want once again to thank everybody that is involved. There seems to be a commitment there from the local authorities. If we can get a similar commitment, I think that we can work through the safety partnership. All of us can work together to highlight the issues, but ensure that we secure future funding for what is an amazing show. I congratulate everyone who is involved. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I declare an interest as a councillor in Stirling, and I thank Alexander Stewart for bringing forward this motion for debate here tonight. It is important that at least one of the three motions was debated and I appreciate your efforts in securing this time. I would also like to thank the families who have contributed to this programme over the many years that it has been running. The volunteers, particularly from the emergency services who have contributed to the events, and I understand that recent years have also contributed to the fundraising as well. That has been a hugely important effort. I was not able to attend the event this year, but I was at what I think was the first event a decade ago. I will certainly never forget how moving the testimonies were. The energy and buzz of the first part of the event captured the attention of the young people, although I do not think that we had a raving Alex Rowley at that one. When it came to exploring the real impact of road accidents, there were deeply thoughtful faces, and in some cases, yes, again, tears. It reminded me of two experiences that I had during my time at school. Once at primary school, when a classmate of mine was killed out on his bike one evening, the sense of sheer disbelief and grief that we all felt the next day. Then, at high school, when a group of local teenagers died in a tragic high-speed crash on the streets of Edinburgh, it sent shockwaves at the time across the city that those teenagers with so much to look forward to in their lives had lost their lives so tragically and carelessly on our roads. I know that over 40,000 young people from every school in Clackmannshire, Falkirk and Stirling, have attended the Central Safe Drive Stale Live events over the last 10 years. I was recently out in Allure discussing the funding issue on the street and collecting signatures for the Allure Advertiser petition. I was pleased to meet people who still strongly remember Safe Drive from their school days and the contribution that is made to their own awareness of road safety. They have seen just a tiny glimpse of the pain and anguish that is caused by road accidents, but it has been enough to make them think, not just about the tragic consequences, but also about how to take better care of their own lives and those around them through responsible driving. It is awkward in a debate like this to mention money because a life is invaluable, but the continuation of the groundbreaking approach comes down to the need for investment. Alongside the incalculable tragedy of every fatal road accident, there is a wider societal cost, estimated at around £1.2 million. The Christie Commission urged us all to spend on preventative action, and I can think of no better example of that approach than safe drives stay alive. We are not talking about large amounts of money here, tens of thousands of pounds rather than hundreds of thousands, but so often the small cuts to services delivered by external partners can pass through unscrutinised by councils. There is no single action that we can take to make our streets safer. Members may be aware that I intend to consult on a member's bill to change the default restricted road speed limit from 30 to 20 miles an hour. Clapmaninshire Council has already largely delivered that, while sadly Falkirk and Stirling councils have not. However, I think that it is clear that through both education and regulation working together, we can make our streets safer and reduce the risk of accidents and collisions. It is heartening as Alexander Stewart has already outlined that, in 2014-15, there were no road deaths in Clapmaninshire of young people aged between 16 and 25. We need to ensure that that figure stays at zero. Safe drives stay alive is an exemplar project that deserves to be built on and given longer-term funding security. I hope that all councils and other agencies will work together to deliver that funding going forward. Deputy Presiding Officer, I would like to thank my colleague Alexander Stewart not only for bringing this debate to the chamber today but for the work that he has been doing along with other colleagues to encourage local authority funding for the Safe Drive Stay Alive project. The campaign employs emotive and hard-hitting techniques designed to make young people sit up and take notice of the dangers of reckless and dangerous driving. It ensures that young people can listen to those who have had to go through the ordeal of a serious road accident, whether that be the sacrifices of emergency workers such as the attending paramedic or the nurse who treated the victims of a crash to the survivors of accidents or the surviving relatives of those who have lost their lives. Here in Edinburgh, a similar event, the Streets Ahead Edinburgh Young Drivers event, has been running for six years. It employs similar tactics, including various interactive tools, to get across messages to young drivers in innovative ways. I am pleased to know or to understand that preparations for this year's event are now in full swing. Let me take a moment to pay tribute to all the people involved in setting up these campaigns, as well as those I referred to earlier, who attend them to convey their experiences. It is to those people that we owe it to say thank you, but not just that, also to say enough is enough. We must strive for a day when road accidents no longer ruin the lives of so many people. The litmus test of a campaign designed to change behaviour or to mould the behaviour before a young driver takes to the wheel for the first time is does it work? In this regard, it does seem that shock and awe does work. The figures that have already been referred to and pointed to in the motion about the success of the Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign since it was introduced in Scotland are quite remarkable, and I will not repeat them because others have already referred to them. The greatest mistake would be to rest on our laurels for the very nature of a road traffic accident is that a split-second diversion of attention can have far-reaching disastrous consequences. Likewise, with the campaign, to take our eye off the campaign and to take our eye off the road would be a grave mistake. Deputy Presiding Officer, it is my understanding that funding had initially been cut for the Safe Drive Stay Alive campaign within Forth Valley. Indeed, this may happen in some areas of the region, although, as I mentioned earlier at the work of my colleague Alexander Stewart and others, has helped to raise the need for continued funding. In my own Lothian region, for example, figures revealed in December show that West Lothian fairs particularly badly in winter driving conditions. The Department for Transport figures tell us that West Lothian is ranked fourth-highest of 206 areas for the number of injuries and deaths related to winter conditions. We all know how dangerous country roads can be if care is not taken. I am aware from a recent written question response that Transport Scotland is working to try to ensure the safety of trunk roads in West Lothian and also offering safe driving leaflets. However, that is the very least that can be expected to reduce the number of accidents. It takes more than leaflets to change behaviour and safe driving campaigns to play a vital role. Until there are no accidents on our roads, there are still too many. I hope that today's debate shows us what can be done through campaigns such as Safe Drive Stay Alive. I thank everyone involved in the scheme and others around Scotland. Elaine Smith, to be followed by Clare Adamson, the last speaker in the open debate. I thank Alexander Stewart for bringing forward the motion for debate. Although I note that others have lodged motions, it is right that it is extremely hard at any event that has such an impact on young people is highlighted in this way tonight in Parliament. I have not been to one of the events, but I was first made aware of Safe Drive Stay Alive some time ago via a friend from Coatbridge who had heard about the event from a work colleague. As his daughter and her friend were new drivers, he took them to Stirling to an event. As with many young drivers on the way there, the girls had an air of confidence and they questioned the need to travel through to Stirling to be informed about stuff that they already knew. The journey home, of course, was quite a different matter. Not only were the girls completely stunned and subdued by the impact of the show, so too was her father, who himself felt that he benefited greatly from being reminded of the necessity of safe driving. As Alec Rowley said, the event that they went to started with a party atmosphere. The young people were encouraged to dance about to loud music and they were waving glow sticks in the air, but they were soon shocked into complete silence when it was made clear that the number of bright and shiny glow sticks related to the number of young people who suffered fatal or severe injuries caused by driving incidents in the local area. In particular, the compelling story given by our father about his son's life-changing injuries and the thought-provoking realistic video demonstrations were invaluable lessons to the many young people who were taking part. My friend was so impressed by this event that two years later he took his younger daughter and her friend back to the Safe Drive Stay Alive in Stirling when they passed their driving tests. I have no doubt about the success of those events and, of course, they also happen in Aberdeen, Fife and Tayside, as we have heard. Since that happened in 2006, the organisers in Tayside firmly believe that Safe Drive Stay Alive has contributed to a 43 per cent reduction in road accident casualties in other areas, all for, quote, a reduction in incidents. The projects have rightly earned a number of local and UK awards demonstrating their effectiveness. Accident statistics are, however, still worrying. In 2015, there were 2007 reported accidents in Scotland-wide involving drivers under the age of 25, and sadly 36 of those were fatal, according to figures from Spice. Like Alexander Stewart, I would like to send condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. Nowadays, getting into a car after you pass your test often appears to be some kind of rate of passage for many young people, and it is a practice that is on the increase. Whilst many might say that this is something of a luxury, it is often a necessity, especially in more rural areas where young people can be let down by poor public transport and they need a car to travel to work for leisure activities or study, and, of course, as traffic increases, so do the risks. I certainly hope that the Safe Drive Stay Alive projects not only continue in the areas that they currently operate in, but I would also like to see those projects extended to other areas of Scotland. I look forward to the minister's comments on that. I am aware that, this week, a different driver safety scheme has been announced for Ayrshire, and I hope that that project is also successful. Can I close, Presiding Officer, by offering my support and thanks to the community safety groups, NHS, police and fire and rescue services, who not only take part and make the event so outstanding, but have to deal with such tragic incidents, sadly, too often? Of course, thanks to Alexander Stewart for bringing forward the debate and to other members who have lodged motions on the subject. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also add my thanks to Mr Stewart for securing this debate this evening on a very important issue. I also want to commend Mr Stewart for highlighting how important partnership working is when we are tackling those areas about how the community safety partnership has come together with Scottish Fire and Rescue and other authorities that are looking to reduce accidents on the road. In that note, I welcome some of those partners to the chamber this evening. I attended a safe drive-stay-alive event many years ago. I suspect that it has moved on from the one that I saw in Aberdeenshire. It was one of my first exposures to that kind of project work. I remember the impact of it on me at the time and how powerful the event was. The evaluation that has taken place of the project to show how good it is is certainly very valuable in how we decide to take those issues forward. As a convener of the cross-party group on accident prevention and safety awareness, I work very hard with organisations, including Scottish Fire and Rescue, ROSPA and BREAK. We know so much about the statistics of the dangers for young people. We also know some information about why those statistics are so bad. We know that young drivers are 10 times more likely to be involved in an accident. We know that they are more at risk because of the accommodation of youth and inexperience. Their experience means that they are less likely to spot a hazard, and that means that they are more at risk from an accident. Sometimes those experiences of recognising hazards can only come from driving and from that experience. The overconfidence has also been mentioned this evening. The poor assessment of hazards and making them more likely to maybe overtake or take a bend too fast in those areas. The prevalence of risk-taking—this is one of the areas that I find most fascinating in the whole accident prevention arena—is that we know that brains do not mature until people are well into their 20s. The statistics show that risk-taking behaviour is because the frontal lobe of the brain has not developed fully. That means that our young people are inherently more at risk, and it is incumbent on us to do everything that we can to make them safer. I commend some of the other initiatives that are out there. Mark Ruskell mentioned the 20s plenty campaigns, and I know that that has greatly reduced accidents in my own area in North Lanarkshire. I also commend the Government for taking leadership in this. Transport Scotland's vision is for a steady deduction in the numbers of those killed and those seriously injured, with the ultimate vision for a future where no one is killed on Scotland's roads and the injury rate is much reduced. That is something that we could all sign up to. I was really glad that the Road Safety Framework mid-term review was published in 2016, with a focus on particularly young drivers aged 17 to 25-year-old. I also commend to the people in the chamber this evening some of the work that has been done by Dr Sarah Jones of Cardiff University. Dr Jones presented to the CPG on accident prevention and safety awareness on graduated licenses. I know that that can sometimes be a bit of a controversial issue, but she highlighted the exuberance risk of taking peer pressure, sensation and thrill of seeking all a contribute to young people being more in danger. The psychomotor skills has a perception, judgment and decision making of young people is known to put them more in danger. I commend her work to the chamber this evening and ask people to look into the real value of graduated licenses when it comes to that. I thank once again, Safe Drive, Stay Alive, for teaching our young people life skills. Thank you very much. I now call Humza Yousaf to close for the Government Minister, seven minutes bees. Presiding Officer, I thank Alexander Stewart for bringing that motion forward. I also thank the other MSPs across the chamber who put down similar motions. I congratulate them all for the cross-party nature in which they have approached these. It goes to say that my experience certainly shows that the more cross-party a campaign, the more likely it is to succeed and I wish them every luck in that success. I can also welcome, as he did, Alan Melanie, who is involved in the campaign in various ways to the chamber. I also congratulate the Allawe advertiser. I have read a number of articles that they have written in advance of this member's debate for their contribution to this important debate. Excellent contributions from across the chamber from our own perspective as a Government can maybe just reiterate a couple of points. One that, of course, were committed, as some members have mentioned, through the road safety framework to 2020 to achieving safer road travel in Scotland. The framework sets out, of course, a very ambitious vision where there are no fatalities on Scotland's roads. Liam Kerr mentioned my own statement and other transport ministerial statements previous to me that one casualty, one fatality, was, of course, one fatality too many. It is an ambitious target, but I know that I want to live in a Scotland where that is realised. Underpinning the vision are very challenging casualty reduction targets. I was pleased to see that, in 2015, that milestone point that we remain on track to achieve those figures, those targets, fatalities reducing by 42 per cent from the 2004-2008 baseline. With 168 people killed on our roads in 2015, of course, as Gordon Lindhurst rightly said, there is certainly no room for complacency or resting our laurels, and I would give them that assurance that we are certainly not doing that. During 2015, my predecessor, Derek Mackay, instigated that mid-term review of the progress made under the framework and the approach to be taken. The mid-term review identified a pre-driver outcome as a key priority, which aims to improve knowledge, positive attitudes and, of course, importantly, safer behaviours of individuals before they start driving. We know the vital role that prevention, compliance, safe drive and stay alive. One of 12 pre-driver interventions is currently being run in Scotland, which aims to contribute to that outcome. We heard from other members across the chamber about some of those other interventions as well. I think that every single member who has been to the safe drive, stay alive, show programme scheme will have mentioned the words, hard-hitting, and I think that that is very important and very powerful. Those hard-hitting thought-provoking accounts of real-life collisions and outcomes, and as Alex Rowley said, hearing those real-life presentations from those who sustained life-altering injuries, no doubt, can have a very positive effect on attitudes, knowledge, skills and, of course, reduce risk. I would like to express my thanks to all those who have been involved in safe drive, stay alive and the details of which we have heard from members across the chamber. As I said, we are committed from our end to using interventions that will help us and supporting interventions that will help us to meet the aims of our safety framework. All that being said, the image of Alex Rowley dancing has given me second thoughts about this campaign in some work, but I say that only in jest, of course. Partnership working like this is at the heart of everything that we do as a Government, and it is key to supporting the delivery of the framework target. I was really pleased to hear from Alex Rowley about the correspondence that he has had with local authorities, suggesting or alluding to the fact that they are examining the funding commitments around this. I have no doubt that all the members who have put down motions have no doubt put pressure on the local authorities for that. Of course, we are all aware of those pressures on our Government, and of course on local Government as well. Liam Kerr is making mention of the infamous, if I may say, Mackay's magic money tree. I would remind him, just to put it on record, that, due to the recent budget negotiations, there is an additional £160 million going to local authorities in Clackmannanshire. That equals £1.4 million, Falkirk that equals £4.5 million and Stirling that equals £2.8 million of unring-fenced money. I just made that point not flippantly at all, but just to put it on the record, understanding that local authorities have many budgetary pressures, no doubt, that they are wrestling with. We commissioned an evaluation of Safe Drive Stay Alive in October 2015 to conduct a review to explore the extent to which the impact of this particular intervention and similar interventions in Scotland are contributing to the specific commitments within our framework. The review was qualitative in nature. The report included that, based on the perceptions expressed in the study, there was a positive impact on the attitudes that young people had on road safety messages. Therefore, in this sense, it is supporting the aims of the road safety framework. The report, however, further concluded that, although the interventions are ultimately aimed to change driver behaviour, the small-scale and limited nature of the study that was conducted means that we needed more evaluative evidence in order to explore the long-term behavioural changes that are needed in driving practices to help us to achieve those framework targets. We are going through the process at the moment of gathering further evidence about the effectiveness of the pre-driver intervention. It is not just focused on the intervention, but the broad spectrum of interventions that we have. We have commissioned to work closely with the Transport Research Laboratory to undertake a project that seeks to get a better understanding of pre-driver interventions and safe drives. Stay alive will be part of that. The report is due in spring, so, of course, I would not like to pre-empt that, but members will be interested in that. We are never complacent about road safety. We have a number of raft of measures that are due to the restrictions on time. I do not think that I will go through them at all, but all of them at all. Members will certainly be aware of what we have done in terms of lowering drink-drive limits. I have met Mark Ruskell about the bill that he intends to bring forward. It is fair to say that, in the Government, I am keeping an open mind on that, and we will look at it with great interest. High-profile publicity campaigns and ambitious engineering initiatives such as those in the A9, as well. The Scottish Government has, for many years, been pressing the UK Government to introduce a graduated driver licence scheme that was mentioned by Liam Kerr and his meeting with the Association of British Insurers. It was also mentioned by Clare Adamson, as well as one or two members, so the Government has been pressing the UK Government to introduce that or, indeed, devolve the powers to us to do so. It is disappointing that we have not seen any movement on that, but I will keep making the request. It seems that that message has cross-party support to an extent. Together with local authorities and our road safety partners, we will continue to work closely to improve the safety on our roads, to equip young people to be safe and responsible drivers for the future, and to allow us to hopefully get to a place where there are no deaths and no fatalities on our roads. I thank Alexander Stewart and all the other MSPs for what I thought was an excellent debate.