Hard-hitting programme to promote road safety

CROWDS surrounded the scene as fire and ambulance crews battled to save the ‘victims’ after removing them from the wreckage of a crashed car.

Luckily, the ‘accident’ in Ennis’ Glór car park was part of a hard-hitting road safety scheme targeting secondary school pupils from across the county. While the rescue was not real, the pupils were given an insight into the stark reality of unsafe driving.
The Lifesaver Project certainly didn’t pull any punches with the mainly teenage audience, speaking to them on their level in an honest way.
As well as a recreation of a fatal road collision, the pupils also got to hear first hand experiences from members of the local emergency services. Speaking to the teenagers was event organiser Garda Tony Miniter, Keith Mullane advanced paramedic and Martin Tuohy, fire and rescue officer in Scariff.
They spoke frankly about some of the road collisions they have encountered through their years in the emergency services. Some of the recollections resulted in gasps from the teenagers as the true picture of the effect of a road crash was put before them.
Shocking footage of victims of road crashes, those who survived and live with horrific injuries, as well as the families of those who have died, were also shown.
Garda Miniter, who devised the programme, said, “It’s fairly hard hitting but it has to be. Anything that helps open these young people’s eyes and see the reality of the dangers of unsafe driving is important. It’s hard hitting but it’s honest and the kids seem to appreciate where we are coming from.”
Part of that comes from the use of experienced speakers, he said. “What they are hearing is coming from front-line emergency staff. They have credibility and they know where they are coming from.”
Garda Miniter devised the project in 2006 and was recently awarded for his work by the Road Safety Authority. He was involved in another road safety campaign but he believed that a more direct and realistic approach was needed.
“For me, and from the feedback I’ve been getting, the more hard-hitting approach definitely works. There’s not a whole lot that they haven’t seen now between television, computer games and the internet. Whatever we say has to stay in with the kids at 3am on a Saturday night. We have to up our game and be as realistic as possible but we also have to be sensitive to people’s own experiences,” he said. The audience were told beforehand to leave at any time if some of the footage and topics dealt with were too much.
Ennis Superintendent Peter Duff commented, “Anything that shows the tragic consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or speeding should be pushed forward.”
The event was a collaborative effort between Clare County Council, An Garda Siochána, Clare Fire Service and the HSE.
Speaking about the Lifesaver Project, Clare County Council’s road safety officer Barry Keating stated, “This road safety initiative will hopefully make a difference to every driver on the road both young and old who sees it. This project has already been proven to be a very effective way of getting the road safety message across. The object of the Lifesaver Project is to encourage drivers, and especially those about to commence their driving career, to adopt a more responsible attitude towards their driving behaviour and also to improve road safety awareness and ultimately cut the number of road traffic collisions.”