Our aim is to reduce the instances of death and serious injuries on our roads. We do this through a diverse range of road safety educational projects, work with vulnerable road users and groups from the very young to the older road users.
We raise funds to develop and produce road safety resources, for example, we have produced and distributed over 60,000 children’s highway code, road safety booklets in the last two years, six educational videos for key stage 1, 2 and 3 children, a documentary The Paulie Project and an educational, work-related road safety video, Work Drive Stay Alive for adult audiences.
We are currently running our annual primary school road safety quiz for all primary schools in Northern Ireland.
This year we are dismayed at the number of people that have lost their lives on our roads. There are many reasons for the increase in deaths this year but we can’t loose sight of the fact that the majority of them were preventable.
In reality they aren’t accidents as many call them. They are collisions. 94% are due to human error.
Too many people are taking chances. The use of mobile phones, drink driving, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt and careless driving are all major contributing factors in many collisions. These are poor choices that selfish driver make with no concern for the rest of us.
- ‘Losing him was when I needed him the most’ - The devastation of road deaths laid bareOpens in new window
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- Remembering those who have died on Northern Ireland’s roads in 2023Opens in new window
There are a number of measures that we would like to see put in place to help curb the current trend.
We need stiffer sentences for those caught flouting the law. We need more police on the ground. We need more education, starting in primary school and carrying on through post primary schools and colleges. We need a decent budget to cover these measures.
Year after year, we have seen a cut in the money being spent across the board on road safety. Now we are seeing the results.
We understand that money is tight in today’s financial climate but to cut the road safety budget is a false economy. It is estimated that one fatal collision costs the economy between £1.8 and £2 million. With 65 fatalities this year that is around £130 million.
One interesting fact is that in 2012 NI recorded the lowest number of road deaths ever at 48, it is certainly not a coincidence that this was also the year that the Department for Infrastructure had the biggest spend on road safety initiatives.
We need to get back to that level of spending. While we as a road safety charity are saddened by the current trend, we will not be put off our endeavours. We will continue to get the road safety message out every chance we get.
Through our support group and service, The Road Ahead support Group, we will continue to support those who have been affected in any way by a road traffic collision.
We have experienced trauma counsellors who know exactly how to help the many people we see on a weekly basis. The Road Ahead Support Group also offer monthly therapeutic workshops and a peer mentoring service.
We would love to see more investment from our government in our support services for road traffic victims and our mission is to increase our services so that we have a road safe NI Committee with attached Road Ahead support in every council area in Northern Ireland.
As we now approach Christmas and the new year we would ask everyone to be careful on our roads. Avoid the fatal five - careless driving, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt, drink/ drug driving and mobile phone when driving.