• 02 May, 2012
• Business, Nature

A road safety campaign targeting holiday makers is been launched with a view to enhancing their awareness of road safety and enlightening them on the importance of complying with the rules of the road. Parents holiday making are also been warned not to break the law when travelling– by booking a child seat for their hire car.

“It can be easy to forget the importance of securing a child while on holidays, but it could be the difference between life and death,” said Mayo County Council Road Safety Officer Noel Gibbons.

“It is crucial that an adequate child seat is fitted to hire cars. Parents should request a seat in advance when booking a car.” Under EU law, Children aged 3 years or over who are under 150cms in height and weighing less than 36 kilograms (i.e. generally children up to 11/12 years old) must use the correct child seat, booster seat or booster cushion when travelling in cars or goods vehicles. And the child seats must be in accordance with EU standards. According to the AA Motoring Trust, “ensuring a child is properly restrained in a child car seat can reduce injuries by a factor of 90-95 per cent for rear-facing seats and 60 per cent for forward-facing seats.” Every year children are killed or seriously injured on the roads – often because they are not properly restrained.

During the campaign, road safety leaflets will be put in cars hired by customers using Ireland West Airport Knock through all car hire companies and safety messages put on the entrance and exit barriers. The information leaflets will inform the customers of the dangers of driver fatigue and other road safety issues such as driving on the left hand side and picking a safe place to park when stopping to take a photograph. The campaign will be highlighted on both Ireland West Airport Knocks and Mayo County Councils road safety web sites.

Can you relate to arriving back from a holiday or after travelling abroad for work feeling tired and having to head into a journey home by car?

Speaking on behalf of Ireland West Airport Knock, Marketing Manager, Donal Healy, said ‘We are delighted to support Mayo County Council in enhancing the awareness of road safety and enlightening people on the importance of complying with the rules of the road. As a major international airport with over 25 international destinations we are delighted to be able to facilitate the extension of this campaign to inform customers of the airport of the dangers of driver fatigue and other road safety issues and hope the campaign is a huge success’

New research released by the Road Safety Authority shows that over one in 10 drivers (14 per cent) have admitted to nodding off or falling asleep while driving. The new findings re-enforces international research which suggests that driver fatigue could be a contributory factor in one in five driver deaths in Ireland. Therefore, this silent killer may have claimed more than 350 road deaths in the past five years.
Mayo County Council’s road safety officer Noel Gibbons said: “Falling asleep at the wheel is something which could happen to any driver, of any age, on any journey, so we want this campaign to ensure that more motorists are made aware of the tragic road accidents that fatigue can cause and are asking them to be well rested before taking to the road.

“We want to encourage people to get into the habit of pulling over if they are starting to get tired while driving. A short stop, a stretch of the legs, and a cup of tea or coffee, can revive a driver and could be the difference between life and death,” said Mr Gibbons.