A hard-hitting road safety show to alert young people to the human cost of dangerous driving will take place at the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, on Thursday, February 7, at 10.45am.
Up to 1,500 Mayo teenagers have been invited to attend the hour-long presentation by AXA Insurance, in association with Mayo County Council, An Garda Síochána, and the local emergency services.
The message which will be delivered to the attendees will be to share the road and take responsibility for their own actions.
The hard-hitting and award-winning road safety campaign first came to Mayo in 2007 after it was showcased in schools in Northern Ireland before being adopted across the border.
Garda Sergeant Donie Duignan of the Mayo Traffic Corps stated: “Unfortunately young drivers are 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.
“The show realistically illustrates what happens all too often on our roads. I hope that after seeing the road show the students understand that they are not indestructible; that accidents can and do happen to young people like them; and they must respect the roads and other users.”
A mother of a road traffic victim, whose story will be told at the road safety show, will appeal to students not to drink and drive, not to speed, and to remember when they put the key in the ignition they are “sitting in a loaded weapon”.
