Make time to think about how roads can be made safer for everyone, urges RSA boss Sam Waide
A TEENAGER has died after he was hit by a van in Co Laois — the 119th road death in Ireland this year.
The lad was walking along the N80 at Clonsoghey when he was hit, and died of his injuries in hospital yesterday.
In total, a staggering 24,663 people have died on our roads since we began recording fatalities in 1959. And since 1977, when injury records began, 84,977 people have been seriously injured.
This year 119 people have died and 868 people have been seriously injured.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims’ offers the country the opportunity to collectively commemorate and remember the victims of road traffic crashes across Ireland and the many families left in pain as a result.
Writing in the Irish Sun on Sunday, Road Safety Authority CEO SAM WAIDE makes a plea for people to increase their road safety efforts as a mark of respect for those who’ve suffered a loss, or those impacted by the trauma of experiencing a serious collision.
COST OF ROAD TRAFFIC CRASHES
TODAY marks the 15th year that we have commemorated World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in Ireland.
In 2005, the United Nations adopted a resolution which calls for governments to mark the third Sunday in November each year.
Most read in The Irish Sun
This day gives us time to reflect on the real, human consequences and costs of road traffic crashes. And it provides an opportunity to draw the public’s attention to the measures which can be taken to prevent them happening again.
It’s our way of ensuring those who’ve died or been seriously injured are not forgotten.
Because behind the numbers are real people — somebody’s father, brother, son, mother, sister or daughter. They are real lives lost or shattered by serious injuries, leaving families and communities devastated as they cope with the lasting impact of death and serious injury on the road.
GRIM STATISTICS
Almost 25,000 people have died on our roads since we began recording fatalities in 1959. And since 1977, almost 85,000 people have been seriously injured.
These are staggering numbers. To understand the sheer scale of such loss of life and injury, the number of deaths is equivalent to the population of the town of Carlow and the number of serious injuries is equivalent to the population of Galway city.
This year, we are also placing renewed focus on those who suffer serious injuries as a result of road traffic incidents.
Not everyone who survives a crash is able to continue living the life they had before.
The reality is that many people suffer serious injuries from traffic collisions each year. Those injuries have a profound effect on their lives, and families.
There is a lifelong impact from serious injures not only on the individual but also on communities.
World Day of Remembrance also offers us a moment to be thankful to frontline responders for all the tireless work they do in confronting the realities of injuries and fatalities on our roads.
They are so often the first on the scene of collisions and those who have to deliver the heart-breaking news of lost loved ones to devastated families, or to tell someone that their life has changed forever.
If we could put everyone in their shoes for just 24 hours and witness what they experience, we would likely eliminate road crashes altogether.
While that idea may be aspirational, I believe that by working together in partnership and collaboration we can eventually see a day when we make the roads much safer for all.
EMPTY SEATS AT THE TABLE
Hearing the harrowing stories of bereaved families and survivors of road traffic collisions offers a solemn reminder of why the Road Safety Authority does what it does and why the emergency services and other road safety bodies do what they do.
This year, 119 people have died and 868 people have been seriously injured.
That’s 119 families who will have an empty seat at their table this Christmas.
World Day of Remembrance gives us the opportunity to reflect on our own road user behaviour, consider our shared responsibility and how each of us can make positive changes which might save a life.
Read more on the Irish Sun
If we all make small changes, be it reducing speed, wearing a seatbelt or taking an extra moment of observation, it would make a big difference to road safety.
I’m asking everyone, out of respect to those who have lost their lives or have been seriously injured, to please make time today to think about what you can do to make our roads a safer place for everyone.