A No Name Club in Erris is spearheading a road safety campaign which will use peer group pressure to change young road users’ behaviour.
The One 4 Life campaign is where every student has pledged to take personal responsibility for road safety and to speak to those they consider to be driving unsafely. To this end they have designed a logo to be used for the campaign and have turned this into a text message that can be used.
The students began by considering that ‘somebody’ should do something about the road safety issue as they worked together with Edith Geraghty, chairperson Erris No Name Club, who facilitated them to take ownership of the problem. They then came to develop the campaign.
Mrs Geraghty said: “It is important to note that until now all campaigns have been directed at young people, this is young people taking on the responsibility themselves. This is the basic ethos of the No Name Club: To encourage leadership, responsibility, and active citizenship for our young people while giving them the option of being able to work and socialise in an alcohol and drug free environment.”
The launch of the campaign will take place in the Civic Centre in Belmullet on Friday March 20 by the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Councillor Joe Mellett, and he will send the first text message using the One 4 Life logo. A presentation will be given by the Gardaí and the ambulance service and a father (Dominic Morley ), whose son died in a car crash where three young lives were lost, will tell his story to the young road users.
