Its road safety day in ait today

 A road safety awareness event will be held at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) this week, as part of the RSA’s seventh annual Irish Road Safety Week. The authority’s ‘Shuttle and Roll Over’ simulators will be on campus today.

The message from the Road Safety Authority for people to get involved in saving lives and preventing injury is particularly poignant with five people losing their lives on Irish roads last weekend, bringing the total of road fatalities to 146 so far this year.

The RSA has expressed concern about the high numbers of vulnerable road users killed in 2014, particularly following the deaths of 13 children under the age of 14 in road traffic accidents, compared to seven children who were killed on the roads in the whole of 2013.

Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the Road Safety Authority said: “This year, for the second year in a row, we are seeing a marked increase in deaths on our roads when compared with previous years, where great strides were made to reduce deaths. It’s a worrying time but if we have learned anything over the last few years, it’s that we all have the power to make a big difference. Tragically 146 people have lost their lives on the roads this year and that’s almost the same as it was this time last year. Vulnerable road users are most at risk this year – the old and the young, cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists. We really need to redouble our efforts to try and reduce what was the worst year on our roads in seven years last year.

“During Irish Road Safety Week, let’s all take this opportunity to review our behaviour on the roads and consider what we can do to make our roads safer. There are lots of road safety activities taking place throughout the country during Irish Road Safety Week, so please get involved, and play your part in saving lives on our roads,” Ms Murdock said.

For further information on Irish Road Safety Week and the activities planned around the country visit www.rsa.ie.