Major Drive by Donegal Road Safety Working Group to Promote Road Safety in Donegal
A hard-hitting road safety message will be delivered to Donegal students as part of the Donegal Road Safety Working Group’s latest initiative. The group will host a series of Road Safe Road Shows in Letterkenny on the 16th and 17th October next and will attract students from all across the County. The shows are being sponsored by AXA Insurance.
Donegal County Council’s Mayor, John Boyle said, “We believe that showing realistically what happens on our roads will have a strong impact on the students who attend. I hope that after seeing the Road Show they realise that they are not indestructible and that it can happen to them. This show which I saw earlier in the year in Northern Ireland, is part of Donegal County Council’s ongoing commitment to improving road safety in the County.”
Recognising that many people are killed or seriously injured on our roads, the Road Show aims to positively influence those drivers who are about to start out on what will hopefully be a long and safe motoring career.
The Road Show is modelled on the award winning Northern Ireland version by the PSNI in association with AXA, and has been seen by more than 25,000 teenagers in Northern Ireland.
Dermot Devlin, Marketing Manager at AXA Insurance and official sponsors of the Road Safe Road Show series, commented: "It's a sad fact that we deal with hundreds of claims every week as a result of traffic collisions. Some are very serious and we see daily the impact of how reckless driving can ruin lives. The effects are well documented - too many people are being killed on our roads or are being injured for life, this is especially evident in areas like Inishowen. Young people are particularly over-represented. They must begin to acknowledge that road accidents don't just happen. We are committed to road safety through our sponsorship of the Road Safe Road Shows, which we have supported since 2001, and through our continued support of a series of hard hitting television advertisements which highlight the dangers of irresponsible driving. We hope that young people will learn from this event, think twice about the seriousness of safety when driving and realise the consequences of taking risks on the road. It is our ambition to develop these road shows in every County across Ireland.”
The show graphically depicts how a night out ends in tragedy for a 17-year old boy who has just passed his driving test. The story is told by a Garda officer, a paramedic, a fire officer, an emergency consultant, a mother of a victim and Richard Alcorn from Dunfanaghy, who was paralysed following a road traffic collision a number of years ago. The narrative is interspersed with music, video clips, television advertisements and is hosted by Highland Radio. Richard Alcorn has lost a number of friends in road traffic collisions and is keen to help deliver the road safety message to others in the County. Donegal County Council’s Road Safety Officer Eamonn Brown said, “ We are delighted that Richard has agreed to participate in the show. His involvement will hopefully bring the message home to the students that it does happen to ordinary people like them.”
The show is also supported and will be attended by members of the Donegal Youth Council. Meabh Kinsella member of the Youth Council said, "I attended the Road Show in the Millennium Forum in Derry last year. I found it insightful and it raised my awareness of the reality of the carnage on the roads. What I really remember is when we were told how many of us statistically are going to die from road traffic collisions. I'd encourage every young person to attend."