The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow in partnership with South Dublin County Council and Emergency Services has delivered a hard-hitting road safety message to 700 Transition Year students on the 6th of February at the Red Cow Moran Hotel. AXA are delighted to be working together with South Dublin County Council to bring the AXA Roadsafe Roadshow to South Dublin. This is the sixth AXA Roadsafe Roadshow of the Winter schedule after already visiting Dun Laoghaire, Kildare, Kerry and Fingal County Council at the end of last year and Cork last month. The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow is aimed primarily at Transition Year students in Secondary Schools. It is based on an award-winning format and depicts graphically how a night out, can end in tragedy. The show depicts what happens with driver inexperience and overconfidence with the aim to educate and highlight the various safety skills these young students need before they get behind the wheel of a car.
Using a backdrop of contemporary music, video clips and television advertisements; the story is told by Garda David Barron, Paramedic Tony Kelly, Fire Officer Darren O’Connor and A&E Consultant, Dr.Philip D’Arcy. The show culminates in a presentation by Leo Lieghio who tragically lost his daughter Marsia, thirteen years ago in a hit and run in Clondalkin in Dublin. Marsia was just sixteen years old at the time and was knocked down at a set of pedestrian lights. Leo tells the students about the raw grief he and his family have had to suffer since that terrible day.
Antoinette McDonald, Direct, Partner and Customer Experience Director at AXA Insurance commented: “As one of the largest insurance companies in Ireland, 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, and we want to educate these young people to be safe and responsible drivers of the future. This event tells the real-life stories of people who deal with the needless carnage caused by speed, drink and drugs on Irish roads and the show brings home the pain caused by unnecessary road crashes and the impact on people and how it has changed their lives forever. The aim of the event is to educate novice and young drivers to think twice about the seriousness of safety when learning to drive. We know that when these students start driving it will give them a new sense of freedom and we want to make sure they enjoy this new freedom but at the same time educate them on the responsibilities that go with it”.
In 2019, 148 people lost their lives on our roads and 1,243 were seriously injured. Over half of fatalities have been either a driver or passenger and one third of all collisions had excessive speed as a factor. One third of all driver and passenger fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt at time of collision. In 2019, 2 lives were lost on South Dublin roads. This year in 2020, we have unfortunately lost 1 life on South Dublin roads to date. Nationally this year, 10 people have lost their lives on our roads to date and although this is a reduction of 6 fatalities for this time last year, every road death is one too many.
