The demonstration – held at the Parkes PCYC on Thursday – involves a full emergency response involving NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and Parkes SES performing their usual roles alongside local youth actors playing the roles of the crash victims.

Year 10 students travelled from Parkes High School, Parkes Christian School, Tullamore Central School, Peak Hill Central School, Red Bend Catholic College, Condobolin High School, Condobolin MET, Lake Cargelligo Central School, Tottenham Central School and Orange MET to attend two sessions of the demonstration.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils' road safety and injury prevention officer Logan Dolbel said the demonstration was as close to the real thing as possible and provided a valuable insight into the aftermath of a vehicle accident.  

“The mock crash pre-lessons and car crash demonstration is an important part of our local Road Safety program, aiming to improve the attitudes and behaviours of young drivers and passengers as they start to get their licences and gain experience on our roads,” Mr Dolbel said.

"It commenced with a short film that set the scene prior to the crash occurring, followed on by the mock car crash demonstration.

"The actors, emergency services, and all those involved were really excited. Having a live audience really lifts the performance of our actors and allows them to showcase all their hard-work and commitment over the past months.”

Mr Dolbel said students found the scenario quite confronting and overwhelming.

The pre-lessons conducted prior to the crash demonstration saw Mr Dolbel and Senior Constable Daniel Greef visit local schools to talk about car crashes, road safety, police enforcement, licencing and answer questions before students obtained their driver’s licence.

The demonstrations began in 2009 and have been running annually ever since.

It’s all part of the NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program, which has been developed in response to crash data that shows young drivers are over-represented in road crashes across the state.  

In NSW driver's under the age of 25 hold a relatively small portion of licences, but are involved in a large portion of crashes.