The road safe roadshow project will make sure over 1,000 of Mayo's teenagers are aware of traffic dangers before they get behind the wheel themselves. The pupils were boisterous and high-spirited going into the AXA Roadsafe Roadshow at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar, but there was hardly a dry eye among them when they emerged from the hard-hitting presentation just over an hour later in previous years.
It contains hard-hitting road safety messages and they will be delivered to nearly 1,000 teenagers at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar on Thursday February 4 when they view the AXA Insurance award-winning Roadsafe Roadshow. The event has been organised in conjunction with Mayo County Council, An Garda Siochana and the local emergency services. The hard-hitting campaign first came to Mayo in 2007 after it was first showcased in schools in Northern Ireland before being adopted across the border.
“Unfortunately young drivers are those most at risk, which is why the emergency services and a whole range of other partners put so much effort into raising awareness among teenagers. We believe this is the biggest co-ordinated road safety campaign ever to be staged in Mayo and we hope the clear messages will stay with the teenagers long after the event has finished,” said Garda Pat O’Hora of the Mayo Traffic Corp.
“The show realistically illustrates what happens all too often on our roads. I hope that after seeing the roadshow the students understand that they are not indestructible; that it can and does happen to young people like them; and they must respect the roads and other users.”
Mrs Moran, a mother of a road traffic victim, will appeal to students not to drink and drive, not to speed, and to remember when they put the key in the ignition they were “sitting in a loaded weapon”.
