This article is from page 37 of the 2008-11-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
TEENAGERS were exposed to the deadly reality of dangerous driving at a hard-hitting presentation on road safety in Ennis last Thursday.
Graphic images of injury, sober- ing personal recollections and inter- views with the families, victims and perpetrators of road traffic accidents formed part of the ‘Lifesaver Project’, which was staged in two sections in Glor, Ennis.
A collaborative effort between Clare County Council, the Gardai, Clare Fire and Rescue Services and the Health Services Executive, ‘Life- saver’ aimed to encourage young people to adopt a more responsible attitude to driving.
Barry Keating, road safety of- ficer with Clare County Council ex- plained, “This project has already
been proven to be a very effective way of getting the road safety mes- sage across and encouraging a more responsible attitude towards driving behaviour.”
The audience on Thursday was roughly 500 students representing 15 secondary schools from across ETc
For the first section of Lifesaver, members of the rescue services re- created the scene of a two-vehicle fatal traffic accident.
The second half of the presentation took place inside the auditorium at Glor. Videos of road safety adverts and interviews with people affected by road traffic accidents were mixed with individual talks from members of the emergency services.
Garda Tony Miniter of the Traffic Corps informed the audience that 248 people had been killed in road
traffic accidents so far this year. He said the highest percentage of those people killed were aged between 16- 30.
“Now you might say that given all the statistics there 1s probably only a small chance ye will take any of this on board. It might be small chance, but it is a chance’, said Garda Minit- ae
Keith Mullane, an advanced para- medic working in Limerick, said young drivers needed to take a more responsible attitude to driving.
‘Our attitude collectively stinks”, said Mr Mullane. He added “You have to minimise your chances of be- ing in an accident….There is some- thing very, very wrong about putting the body of a young person into a fridge”’.
Gearoid Blake, Station Officer at Ennis Fire Station said the majority
of his work as a Fireman involved road traffic accidents. He described the scene of a typical accident. “You hear screaming that just explodes inside your head. You smell battery acid. You get a sort of metallic smell from all the blood. You smell vom- it. You smell beer, that’s one thing you’ll nearly always get the smell of…Afterwards, when you have to clean up the car, you find teeth, bits of flesh and bits of brain’.
Dr Cathal O’Donnell, a consultant in emergency medicine attached to Limerick and Ennis, told the audi- ence to be aware of the consequences of drink driving. “Don’t’ be killed because of someone else’s stupidity”, |stemncy-5 (6