A new campaign created by the Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) is challenging young drivers to rethink their attitudes towards speed.
There Are No Respawns uses gaming-inspired content to highlight the potentially life-changing consequences of a split-second decision behind the wheel.
Launching across Essex cinemas, social media and digital platforms this summer, the campaign encourages young people to challenge risky driving, look out for their friends and make safer choices.
SERP has also teamed up with Essex-based content creators Reid Card, Aki Suthakar and Jodi Stottor, whose combined social media following reaches hundreds of thousands of young people.
The campaign features Ben Wilson, who was seriously injured in a collision nine years ago. He suffered seven broken bones and a traumatic brain injury and continues to experience memory problems and fatigue.
Ben said: “My car crash changed my whole life, and I will never be able to return to the life that I used to have.
“There are no respawns in real life. Prepare for your journey, put your seatbelt on, don’t exceed the speed limit and have a safe journey. Save the speed for the track. It’s simply not worth risking your life or the lives of others.”
SERP says 986 people were killed or seriously injured in Essex between 2023 and 2025 in collisions where speed was a contributory factor. Nearly one in three (29%) of those casualties involved a speeding driver aged under 26, with 88% of those young drivers being male.
More than 123,900 motorists have also been caught speeding in Essex over the past 12 months.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex and Chair of the SERP Governance Board, said: “Young drivers remain disproportionately involved in speed-related collisions, so we must continue to confront the attitudes of those who encourage risky driving.
“The safest drivers are not the fastest. They are the ones who make good decisions, stay in control and get everyone home safely.
“Nobody gets a second chance when they are in control of a real car – there is no pause button.”
The There Are No Respawns campaign will run throughout the summer across Essex cinemas, social media and digital channels.
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