Teenagers across Bermuda were given a few tips on good decision-making yesterday when they listened to the story of quadriplegic car crash victim Adrian Dieleman.

The Canadian has been brought to the Island by Bermuda SMARTRISK to help advise secondary school students on how to be safe and make sound judgements.

During four sessions at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium yesterday, he explained to them how he became paralysed from the chest down after being involved in a bad road smash while drunk at the wheel of a car at age 22. The keen motorcyclist spent 15 months in hospital and is now confined to a wheelchair, having no use of his limbs.

But he said rather than get angry at what happened, he has learned to accept the consequences of his actions, and now uses his own situation to explain to others the dangers of taking careless risks.

And he does that by travelling around with Smart Risk, which is based in Canada.

He said: "This show is not about telling kids what to do, or telling them that it is wrong for them to take risks.

"Everybody takes risks all the way through their lives - that's what life is about.

"But we want them to make informed decisions and to think before they act. They can take smart risks. It is about where they draw the line.

"We say there are five things they can think about. Buckle Up, Drive Sober, Look First, Wear the Gear and Get Trained.

"It is estimated that 90 percent of accidents are preventable, therefore, we believe they are not accidents. They were avoidable, if only people took smart risks. We are trying to change the thinking, so people are no longer in denial, claiming crashes are accidents, when they often are clearly not.

"The point of our sessions is to get young people to choose for themselves, and not just to listen to other people. We want them to take smart risks, not stupid risks."

Bermuda SMARTRISK became a registered charity at the start of this year, and hopes to bring the SMARTRISK show to the Island every two years, so every senior school pupil should see it twice.

Founder and president of Bermuda SMARTRISK Joseph Froncioni, who is also chairman of the Road Safety Council, said seven shows were being held between yesterday and today for pupils at each of the seven secondary schools and parents.

And he said it was not to just highlight the risks on the roads, but while swimming, diving, working, boating, riding and in every other aspect of life.

He said: "This is the second time we have done it. We did it in January of last year, too. We get a tremendous response. We even have some children in tears during the show.

"Afterwards, I will visit all of the schools and follow up with more specific SMARTRISK advice.

"The biggest problem (in Bermuda) at the moment is the misuse of helmets. We are seeing a lot of head injuries because they are not fastened properly.

"Young people tend to think that the worse thing that can happen to them is dying. And they tend not to be afraid of dying because it seems so far away from them. But they are afraid of disfigurement, so I think this maybe does hit home.

"We don't want to shock them with gross things, but we want to get the message home."

CedarBridge Academy student Scenttia Jones, 16, said the message hit home for her.

She said: "I thought the session was very informative. Some of the statistics were very surprising. It has had an impact on me, and I think it will on a lot of others, too."

And Stephanie Corday, also from the school, said: "Some of the pictures we saw and the graphics surprised me, as did some of the facts.

"It will certainly change what I do."