Donegal County Councils Director of Service, John McLaughlin with Chief Executive Seamus Neely and Road Safety Officer Brian O'Donnell following receipt of the Road Safety Award 2015 in the Excellence in Business Awards by the Public Sector Magazine
Donegal County Council has been named winner of the 'Road Safety Award 2015' in the Excellence in Business Awards by the Public Sector Magazine.
Donegal County Council and the Donegal Road Safety Working Group (DRSWG) are delighted to accept this award which acknowledges the work done by the DRSWG, previous Road Safety Officers and Road Safety Engineers in Donegal County Council. The Public Sector Magazine is a quarterly publication which is distributed to all departments in the public sector, semi state bodies and civil service.
Brian O’Donnell, Road Safety Officer believes that while he is delighted to receive this award it is also an opportunity to bring attention to the fact that road safety still is a major challenge in Donegal.
“Increasing road safety awareness is extremely important and saving lives on our roads requires persistence. Young and old must be taught about road safety – even experienced drivers need reminding of it on a regular basis. Young driver safety is a high priority especially here in Donegal and all of us are trying to find effective and acceptable ways of reducing the risk that these young people face”.
The award also comes at a time when preparations are being made for the Road Safe Road Show on 13th and 14th October which is in its 9th year and continues to be one of the most effective road safety promotion tools in Donegal.
“The Road Safe Road show directly targets the age group most at risk on our roads, young people who are just beginning to drive and often think they are indestructible”.
“Almost 2,600 young people have registered to attend the show and the success of the show can be gauged in that all secondary schools in County Donegal since the show was first launched have sent their Transition year, Leaving Cert Applied and fourth year students to the show. Additionally, Youthreach Centres, ETB participants also attend”.
“The impact of the show has also been acknowledged in Northern Ireland with the Police Service of Northern Ireland assisting with registering schools from Derry and Strabane. Despite schools been extremely busy and having to cope with reduced budgets, School Principals consistently advise us that they believe that this is one of the most important initiatives hosted to educate their young students for the life ahead of them”.
Brian O’Donnell believes that we can never be complacent when it comes to road safety and he is appealing to all road users to please make safer choices when using the road saying
“This means wearing a hi-viz jacket and being seen if you are walking, running, cycling or riding a motorbike. It means slowing down if you are a driver, especially when sharing the road with vulnerable road users. It means everyone wearing a seat belt, front and rear on every trip and ensuring children are properly restrained too. It means not driving while distracted by a mobile phone and it means not driving while impaired, whether through drink, drugs or driver fatigue”.
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