Road safety is one of the biggest challenges we face in Westmeath, according to council chairman Cllr Joe Whelan, who launched the county’s Road Safety Strategy on Monday this week.
Speaking at the launch in Market House, Mullingar, Cllr Whelan said that road tragedies affect all of us. “Westmeath has had its fair share of road tragedies and indeed there are few of us who have not been touched in some way by a road collision...We know so many of these terrible road collisions are avoidable and that needless suffering can be prevented,” he said.
Cllr Whelan paid tribute to the months of work that had culminated in the publication of the new road safety document for the years 2009-2013. “The Westmeath Road Safety Strategy is a document that a lot of hard work and thought has gone into. It is the culmination of much work by the Westmeath Road Safety Working Together Committee and I congratulate them on their efforts.”
The aim of the new strategy is to promote and improve road safety for all road users through working with the general public, and to help reduce road user fatalities and injuries.
In 2008, three people lost their lives on Westmeath’s roads, while nationally there were 276 deaths.
The strategy emphasises ‘the four Es’ - Education, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation, which Cllr Whelan said made the document very user-friendly.
He also welcomed Westmeath’s new road safety officer, Donal O’Donoghue, who replaced outgoing officer Martina Moore.
The Westmeath Road Safety Working Together Committee consists of representation from Westmeath County Council, the National Roads Authority, Department of Education, Road Safety Authority, Westmeath Sports Partnership, An Garda Siochana, the Health Services Executive, and the motor, business, citizen, and disability sectors.
