Five Armagh schools attend cross-border road safety event

by Gráinne Connolly

A cross-border road safety outreach initiative was held recently at the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) for students in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 

The PSNI, An Garda Siochána and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue service were there and delivered "gripping" presentations and demonstrations to over 70 pupils from five schools from Armagh and five schools from Cavan, Louth and Monaghan. 

Autoline Insurance Group were also in attendance to exhibit their state of the art car crash simulator; which to date has reached over 25,000 pupils in schools and colleges as part of their wider 'Respect the Road' awareness campaign. 

PSNI Officer Kieran Quinn had a clear message to everyone at the event: 

Mrs Ruth Hutchenson, who tragically lost her son to a road accident two years ago, was also present as a guest speaker and gave a powerful statement on what it means to lost a loved one on the road. 

She encouraged the pupils to take on everything they were being told throughout the event. 

The car crash simulator, which is a specially equipped Ford Focus ST that's been adapted to include in-car screens, speakers, smoke machines and bespoke hydraulics; was used to recreate a real life fatal incident that led to a 17 year old driver being sentenced to prison.

Colm O'Hare of the NSCJS said: 

“The combination of hard-hitting presentations, practical advice and educational activities around policy and future planning makes this an all-encompassing road safety event for these pupils.

“The topic of road safety is nothing new but with collaborative and creative approaches to educating young road users, it is our hope that in years to come there will be significantly fewer deaths and injuries reported on our roads.”

One student who attended the event says it was very "eye opening": 

In recent years, there has been a significant focus on increasing road safety awareness and reducing fatalities on our roads, both North and South.

This has had a positive impact as authorities on both sides of the border have been able to report a reduction in road user deaths in 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

The PSNI recently announced a 7% reduction in road deaths with a total of 63 in 2017 and in their end of year statistics, the Road Safety Authority reported that 158 people lost their lives on roads inIreland last year,which signified a 15% drop from the 186 lives lost in 2016.

PSNI statistics for the the Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Council area show a 40% decrease in road deaths in 2017 compared to the previous year. There were 6 fatalities, 3 of which were people under 25 years old.