Students learn reality of road traffic dangers

A HARD-hitting road safety message was delivered to over 500 Transition Year students at The Red Cow Hotel last week.

The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow, run in conjunction with South Dublin County Council and local emergency services, brought home the reality of the danger on the roads to students at the event.

Seven people lost their lives in the South County Dublin area in 2017, while 159 people lost their lives on our roads in 2017 and 695 were left seriously injured.

Almost two thirds of fatalities have been drivers or passengers, and one fifth of these were not wearing seat belts at time of the accidents.

Mondays between the hours of 12pm and 4pm are the most popular times for fatalities in 2017.

So far this year six people have lost their lives on our roads. That is a reduction of four fatalities for this time last year.

A spokesperson for the event said: “We are hopeful that the AXA Roadsafe Roadshow will help to deter young people from falling into this category going forward by showing them the realistic impacts of driving with speed and the damage it can cause.”

The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow is aimed primarily at transition year students in secondary schools and is based on an award-winning format.

It depicts graphically how a night out can end in tragedy. With a backdrop of contemporary music, video clips and television advertisements, the story is told as a sequence of events unfolds by Garda David Barron, Tony Kelly, Fire Officer Darren O’Connor and A&E consultant Brian O’Riordain.

The show culminates in a presentation by a local father, Leo Lieghio, who lost his daughter Marsia 12 years ago in a hit and run in Clondalkin.

Marsia was 16-years-old at the time and was knocked down at a set of pedestrian lights.

Leo told students about the raw grief he and his family have to suffer.

 Antoinette McDonald, Director at AXA Insurance, said: “As the largest motor insurer in Ireland we deal with hundreds of claims every week as a result of traffic collisions.

“The effects are well documented – too many people are being killed on our roads or are being injured for life.

“AXA Insurance has a strong commitment to road safety and 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.”

The 2017 figure is almost 20 per cent below the 193 deaths recorded on Irish roads in 2014, one of the deadliest years for road traffic accidents ever recorded.

Possible reasons for the decline have varied from more targeted policing by the Garda Traffic Corps to new, hard-hitting road safety adverts.

Others have credited greater road safety awareness among young people, including successful new school campaigns.

Road safety campaigners, including Parc, said a tougher penalty points regime and tightened legislation on issues ranging from drink driving to learner drivers are also factors in the decline in the number of deaths.

Fatal accident figures have fluctuated over recent years with 162 in 2012; 188 in 2013 and 193 in 2014.