For families and society, the cost of death and injury on our roads is enormous. Sadly, many people in Ireland have been touched in some way by road traffic collisions. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Mr. Laurence O Doherty, Road Safety Ambassador with Crystal Safety Services in association with the Road Safety Authority with the Community Road Safety Programme aims to create a sense of public and personal pride in our behaviour on the road. Whether we are pedestrians, motorcyclists, cyclists, drivers or passengers, we all need to take responsibility – and pride – in how we behave on the road.
Many groups working in the area of road safety co-operated to develop this programme including:
- Gardaí
- Education sector
- Health sector
- Local authorities
- Community groups
- Road crash survivors.
The result is a resource pack and an accompanying DVD. The pack has been developed with community groups for community groups.
Crystal Safety Services urge community groups to get involved with the Community Road Safety Programme and to promote it locally.
It is based on the Rules of the Road and aims to change the attitudes and behaviour of drivers, pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists.
The programme focuses on five main topics:
- speed and speeding
- use of safety belts, child restraints and safety on buses
- road user impairment through alcohol, illegal and legal drug use, driver fatigue and mobile phone use
- unsafe behaviour towards or by vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists young children and older people
- emergency services
The programme also features information on:
- good driving practice
- testimonies from road traffic collision survivors