A hard-hitting road safety message will be delivered to some 1,000 teenagers at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar on February 3 when they view the award-winning Roadsafe Roadshow. The event has been organised in conjunction with the Mayo County Council, An Garda Síochána, and the local emergency services. It depicts graphically how a night out ended in tragedy and permanent disability for one Roadshow participant.
With a backdrop of contemporary music, video clips, television and cinema advertisements, the story is told as a sequence of events unfolds, by a garda, paramedic, fire officer, an accident and emergency consultant and a representative from a victim support group. The show culminates in a presentation by the seriously injured young victim of a road traffic collision, with serious life changing injuries.
Dermot Devlin, marketing manager at AXA Insurance, the official sponsors of the Roadsafe Roadshow series, commented: “As one of the largest insurance groups in Europe we deal with hundreds of claims every week as a result of traffic collisions. The effects are well documented - too many people are being killed on our roads or are being injured for life. Young people are particularly over-represented. They must begin to acknowledge that road accidents don't just happen.
“AXA Insurance has a strong commitment to road safety through not only its sponsorship of the Roadsafe Roadshows, which we have backed from the beginning, but through our support of a series of hard hitting television advertisements which highlight the dangers of irresponsible driving. We hope that young people will learn from this event, think twice about the seriousness of safety when driving, and realise the consequences of taking risks on the road.”
Speaking about the event, Noel Gibbons, road safety officer, Mayo County Council, said: “The Roadsafe Roadshow has been a major success. It allows us to deliver a hard-hitting and high-impact road safety message to thousands of young people in the highest risk group. I have no doubt that the roadshow shocks, perhaps even horrifies, our young audiences and we make no apology for that.
“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.”
