Devastating car crash recalled at Offaly launch of major road safety campaign

THE principal of Tullamore College spoke of the impact a fatal road crash had on himself and his wife at the launch of a major road safety initiative.

Opening the event in the school, which was attended by Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, school principal Edward McEvoy publicly thanked the emergency and hospital staff who responded to the serious road accident six years ago.

Mr McEvoy and his wife both survived the high speed collision: “We both had to be cut out of the car and brought to hospital. It was a serious accident which had devastating consequences for the people involved.”

He added: “The driver of the car who struck us died in the accident and my wife was rendered partially paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.”

Addressing students from his own school and guests from Colaiste Naomh Cormac, Kilcormac and Ard Scoil Chiarain, Clara, Mr McEvoy (pictured below) said: “The one thing I would say is I would like the students to learn from our experience is the danger of speed. The most important skill in driving is anticipation, looking ahead, being alert as to what might happen and being read to slow down in advance.

“If you're driving at speed your time to react and avoid serious consequences is reduced to nothing. In the accident in which we were involved a hail shower on part of the road, a very small part of the road, caused hazardous driving conditions and a number of drivers coming from the Galway direction did not slow down in time and there were three separate accidents in the same place on that day.

“I would ask you to remember when you're older and when you start driving that you are not invincible. I would ask you to slow down to keep yourself, your passengers and other road users a chance, a chance to avoid serious injury or death.”

The road safety initiative is an annual event spearheaded by Tullamore Rotary Club and its president, local businessman David Gleeson.

Mr Gleeson had a message for the secondary students present: “Statistics will show that the young people are much more vulnerable to injury and bad outcomes on the road.”

Mr Gleeson said some of the key components are speed and distraction and he said that last year the emphasis of the Rotary Club's road safety campaign was on the dangers of mobile phones while driving.

He told the young people that it is okay for them to say to their parents “Take it easy, we'll get there” and there's no need to take a call on a mobile phone.

“It's ok to miss a call, but it's definitely not ok to miss the rest of your life.”

Mr Gleeson, who runs Allpro, spoke about his own experience in the recruitment industry and how himself and his team look at qualifications and potential when assessing young job applicants.

He mentioned the five young people who lost their lives in the recent road crash in Co Louth. “If you multiply the amount of years, you're talking about 275 years of lost potential.”

Minister O'Callaghan, a guest in Tullamore of his Fianna Fail party colleague, Offaly TD Tony McCormack, said he was delighted that a theme of the Rotary Club initiative was “be safe, be seen”.

He told the students: “The reason why we put so much effort into these initiatives is we want you all to be safe on the roads, when you're using them with your parents or whether in years to come you're using them yourselves.”

The minister (pictured below meeting students) said that if everyone drove carefully and safely the roads would not be dangerous.

Road safety is a priority for the Government, he said, and then recalled the previous weekend, saying it was a “terrible weekend for Ireland” because of the crash in Co Louth which claimed five young lives.

He contrasted that news about those young people which broke the previous Sunday morning with the joyous scenes involving other young people later the say day when Ireland defeated Hungary in a World Cup qualifying match.

“I was reflecting on the fact that those five young people would have loved to have been around to see the joy of that great victory.”

He named the five victims of the Louth crash - Chloe McGee, Alan McCluskey, Dylan Commins, Shay Duffy and Chloe Hipson.

While other people will remember those five now they will eventually move on. “That's not the case for their own families. Their families are going to have a terrible Christmas, terrible years to come because of the loss they suffered.”

Deputy McCormack, a former Rotary Club president, mentioned two other leading club members who had been to the forefront of the road safety campaign, the late Albert Fitzgerald and the late Paddy Dunican.

The TD said the purpose of the campaign was to enlighten young people. “At the end of the day you guys are the future of our country.”

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Master of ceremonies on the day Ronan Berry also introduced contributions from Nicola Walsh, Road Safety Authority, who said the death rate on the roads had already surpassed last year's; Stephen Coyle, station officer, Tullamore fire station, who said the service had been called out to 80 road collisions in Offaly last year; and Paddy Mooney, chief ambulance officer for the Midlands, who stressed the importance of wearing seat belts.

Inspector Ralph Holmes, Laois-Offaly Garda Siochana, said three lives had been lost on the roads in Offaly so far this year and 17 people of secondary school age had died throughout the country.

Inspector Holmes mentioned how distraction can affect pedestrians and urged young people who are walking to make eye contact with drivers.

He added: “If you have earphones in our earbuds are are looking at your phone you're not paying attention to the road conditions and you're putting your safety at risk.”

Professor Eoin Sheehan, consultant, Tullamore Hospital, explained that injuries sustained in road traffic accidents are very serious because of the energy created by the weight, mass and velocity of vehicles.

“The softest thing in the car is you and the softest thing on a bike is you,” said Professor Sheehan (pictured below).

He told the young people that they can play a key role in preventing accidents: “You guys are a force for change, that's why we're talking to you.”

The event was also attended by Offaly Fine Gael TD John Clendennen, the Fianna Fail TD for Kildare North, Naoise Ó Cearúil, and Cllr Declan Harvey.

A re-enactment of how the emergency services respond to a two-car collision took place outside in the school grounds, with actors playing the parts of people injured and killed and staff from Offaly fire service demonstrating how victims have to be extracted safely from vehicles using cutting equipment.