The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow in partnership with Roscommon County Council and local Emergency Services delivered a hard-hitting road safety message to 300 Transition Year students at the Roscommon Arts Centre recently.
The show depicts what happens with driver inexperience and overconfidence with the aim to educate and highlight the various safety skills these young students need before they get behind the wheel of a car. It is told by Garda Padraig Kelly, Fire Officer Michael Frain, Paramedic Darren Figgs, and A&E Consultant Dr. Jessica O’Connell. It culminates with a talk from Peter Reynolds who lost his brother Joe following a road crash and from Grainne Kealy, a survivor who has suffered life-changing injuries.
Antoinette McDonald, Customer Experience Director of AXA, said the production was aimed at educating young drivers who are “over represented” when it comes to road traffic accidents. The Roscommon County Council Road Safety Officer, Mairead McKeon, said the event was one way to help reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities. In 2019, 148 people lost their lives on our roads, and 1,243 were seriously injured. Over half of fatalities have been either a driver or passenger and one-third of all collisions had excessive speed as a factor. One-third of all driver and passenger fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt at time of collision.
Three lives were lost on Roscommon roads and seven people suffered serious injuries. This year, there have been no lives lost to date on Roscommon roads, however one person has been seriously injured.
