Horrific images of road crash victims were shown to students of the Berkeley Institute by a funeral director who warned them: "You may consider yourselves to be good riders but so have others who have been placed in the ground."

Doreen Williams-James, of Alpha Memorial Chapel Funeral Home in St. David's, had tough words for senior three and four students when she spoke at an assembly on road safety. "You may not only take your own life but someone's else's," said the mother-of-two. "You may survive and take someone else's life. How are you going to deal with that?"

Mrs. Williams-James was invited to talk to pupils about the need to ride motorcycles responsibly by S4 head Rachael Robinson, who said: "I received three emails from anonymous people in the community citing that they had seen S4s driving recklessly and that really, really bothered me.

"When I addressed the students in assembly they brushed it off and sucked their teeth, so that got me to the point where I needed to drive home the message.

"I contacted Doreen not because shock tactics always work but really to show them that as much as you might like to think it will not happen to you, it can."

Mrs. Williams-James brought a coffin into the assembly hall and invited four students to look inside. They saw a mirror reflecting their own faces.

Next came a series of photographs projected onto a screen showing mangled bodies and heads — images which reduced some students to tears.

Mrs. Williams-James, the first woman in Bermuda to own and operate a funeral home, said: "There are some graphic photos there. I may not be able to get the message across to all of you but I'm sure I'll reach some of you."

The funeral director added that she had dealt with numerous victims of fatal road accidents. "It's not so much the disfigured bodies that I deal with that bothers me but it's the families.

"It's sudden. The reality is very hard to experience. Denial comes about and you have so many emotions involved.

"To sit down with a family that's lost a loved one, that's the most difficult thing that can be done. Because I'm in this profession, I've actually come to value life a whole lot more."

Bermuda's road safety manager Roxanne Christopher told the students that "it's the 16 to 20 year olds that die on our roads more than any other category".

She urged them not to "pack race", ride without a helmet or drink and drive. "There is nothing more real than when you go to these funerals and see your friends, your uncles, your aunts, your ace boys and ace girls."

Once students at Berkeley reach the age of 15 and a half they can take part in Project Ride, which gives them theoretical and practical knowledge of motorcycling before they sit a TCD test.