Prominent sports personalities in Donegal are lending their voice to promote better driving behaviour on Donegal’s roads. The sport's people include Toni Kelly, Rory Kavanagh, Stephen O’Reilly, Shaun McGowan and Tommy McCafferty who have all recorded adverts in conjunction with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group. These advertisements will be played on local radio over the coming weeks to highlight road safety and appeal to people to ‘Think Road Safety’.
Donegal County Council’s Road Safety Officer Eamonn Brown said, “ These adverts focus on different driving behaviours and appeal to everyone to think road safety. We are delighted that those involved gave so freely of their time to promote this important message. Using local sports personalities we hope will especially appeal to younger road users. They are the most difficult to reach and we hope that these messages delivered by people they respect will influence how they behave on our roads now and in the future.”
Donegal’s GAA captain Rory Kavanagh’s is one of the sports personalities involved. Advert. His advert focuses on driver fatigue and the importance of regular breaks when driving long journeys. Rory commented, “ Donegal unfortunately has a very poor record when it comes to road safety. I am delighted to be involved with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group and hopefully together we can make a difference. All I am asking is people plan a break if their journey is likely to last more that two hours. It’s simple really and it could save your life”
Rally driver Toni Kelly is one of the sports personalities involved. She expressed her delight at being involved in the campaign. She said, “ Road safety is something we are all concerned about. I hope my contribution will influence some people to question their driving behaviour and hopefully make them act a little more responsible. I am delighted to be involved with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group and along with my other sporting colleagues hope we can make a difference by contributing to road safety in the county.”
Irish Boxing champion Stephen O’Reilly’s is one of the sports personalities involved. Stephen’s advert focuses on seatbelt wearing. Stephen commented, “ I am amazed that some people still don’t wear their seatbelt as it is a proven life saves if you are involved in a collision. I am delighted to work with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group and I hope this initiative will help reduce the number of people seriously injured or killed on our roads.”
Finn Harps player Shaun McGowan is one of the sports personalities involved. His advert focuses on drink driving. Shaun explained why he got involved by saying, “ There are very few families that have not lost a family member or friend in a road collision in Donegal. I hope that by adding my voice to the work of the Donegal Road Safety Working Group that we can make a difference. Not drinking and driving is a very basic and simple thing when it comes to road safety and something we can all do which will definitely reduce the number of collisions on our roads.”
World champion kick boxer Tommy McCafferty is one of the sports personalities involved. His advert is about personal responsibility when driving. Tommy commented, “ I am delighted to be involved with the work of the Donegal Road Safety Working Group. Road safety is something we can’t become complacent about we have to think about it every time we use the roads. Fortunately, it’s the simple things that make a difference like wearing a seatbelt, not speeding and not drinking and driving.”
The adverts will be played over a six week period on local radio. To hear the complete series of adverts visit the road safety section of Donegal County Council’s website on
www.donegalroadsafety.ie