The road safety office in Mayo County Council continues its campaign towards road safety this weekend by conveying a special Valentine's Day message to road users.
Mayo County Council, road safety officer Noel Gibbons explained: "While Valentine’s Day traditionally focuses on couples showing love to one another, there is one relationship that is often neglected - to fellow road users - so balloons in the shape of love hearts will be seen on roads all over Ireland over the next few days.
"Local authorities are urging everyone to show respect on our roads, sharing this love by being courteous and considerate to other road users, be they drivers, bikers, cyclists, passengers or pedestrians.
"Balloons in the shape of love hearts will be erected at different locations around the country to remind road users, in a light-hearted way, to share our roads and get on in these trying times.
"We’re doing everything we can to make our roads safer and we’ve made significant progress in recent years, but we have a lot to do yet.
"But last year we saw an increase in the number of cyclists by ten (a 25 per cent increase on 2019 ) and pedestrians by 32 (a 19 per cent increase on 2019 ) killed on our roads; with more people out walking and cycling we are asking motorists to please slow down."
"Respect should continue beyond this day and every day, we should all do our part when using the roads. Showing respect entails driving carefully and attentively, caring about our children, having them properly seated with their seat-belts on, giving mobiles a break, observing road regulations and paying attention when crossing the roads."
Sergant James Malone, roads policing unit, Castlebar, added: "Drivers on mobile phones are four times more likely to be involved in a collision, so it’s important we really engage with all drivers.
"We want to make them aware of the dangers of bad driving and also empower passengers not to get into a car with someone who drives in a way that makes them feel unsafe. On a broader level we want all road-users, no matter what age, to show respect towards each other, and in doing so, reduce road deaths on our roads. If you are distracted, you won’t see that cyclist or pedestrian."
Road safety advocate Mr Phil Skelton said: “With the ever-increasing amount of bicycle riders on the road, I would particularly ask drivers to pay special attention to the RSA’s safe passing ad. The appeal is not just to give people on bicycles a minimum passing distance when overtaking, but to also slow down when doing so. On this St. Valentine’s Day and every day, let’s all get home safely to our loved ones."
