Local Pupils get a lesson in Road Safety

Over 500 students from Omagh schools recently participated in Road Safety Week which took place from 17-23 November 2024. Road Safety Week is an annual event dedicated to promoting road safety awareness and advocating for safer roads and responsible driving behaviour and plays a crucial role in educating communities and advocating for safer road practices. Schools, organisations, and communities get involved each year to share road safety messages and remember people affected by road death and injury.

The theme for Road Safety Week 2024 focused on raising awareness of the impact of road crashes and celebrating the people who support families after a road death or serious injury. The campaign also shared some of the stories behind the statistics and called for the highest standard of care for every road victim.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) in partnership with Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and the PSNI with support from Fermanagh and Omagh Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) organised a road traffic collision demonstration at Omagh Community Fire Station, which was attended by local pupils.
The hard hitting demonstration was designed to show the students the reality of a road traffic collision and used an end of life vehicle with volunteer driver and passengers to represent a collision with the emergency services attending the scene. The commentary gave an insight into the role of each attending service at the scene and explained how the investigation progresses after the crash site is cleared.

Councillor Roy Crawford, PCSP Chairperson commented,

“This event was hugely impactful and very hard hitting and really gave young people an idea of how not concentrating while behind the wheel can have catastrophic repercussions.”

“We know that all too often the emergency services see the heartbreaking consequences of dangerous driving and erratic driving on the road. This demonstration shows students the immediate aftermath of a road traffic collision and the efforts of the Fire and Rescue Service and others who are first on the scene dealing with death and serious injury. This demonstration showed how the Fire Service using specialist equipment releases victims trapped in a car; seeing this first hand brought home the horrific reality of what our emergency services deal with on an all too regular basis.”

NIFRS Station Commander Adrian Clarke said;

“Along with our partner agencies, our Firefighters witness first-hand the carnage, traumatic scenes on our roads and the lives completely destroyed as a consequence. By inviting young people to our road traffic collision demonstrations, they have the opportunity to discover the causes and consequences of careless, dangerous driving. This opportunity is crucial for young people to understand our role at road traffic collisions, including rescuing people from vehicles, and how we work collectively with other emergency services to help someone when they need us most.

“We are all responsible for road safety to ease the pain, loss and suffering to individuals, families and communities caused by road traffic collisions. One life lost is too many so please slow down, never drink alcohol or take drugs and drive, don’t get distracted and drive to the road conditions.”

Inspector Joni Beatty added;

“Showing realistically just what happens on our roads has an impact on the students who attend, and I hope that after seeing this demonstration they realise that they are not indestructible; that they are as vulnerable on the roads as the next person and that they must respect the roads and other users.
“Reducing deaths and serious injury on our roads is a priority for us and the responsibility for making our roads a safer place is one that we ALL share. We will continue to work with our partners to deliver the strategy and make our roads safer.
“Remember the ‘Fatal Five’ – don’t drink or take drugs and drive; slow down; don’t be careless; always wear your seat belt and never use your mobile phone whilst driving.”

Jason Rosborough, NIAS Area Manager, commented;

“Every day of every week, the men and women of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service attend Road Traffic Collisions. Some are minor incidents where injuries are less than serious. But others, due to the severity of the collision, result in serious injury or death. Our crews have witnessed harrowing scenes that would make most people recoil. But their professionalism and their innate desire to save people enables them to do what they need to do at the scene to give every patient the best possible chance of survival.

Most upsetting for them is being witness to the loss of a young life for whom they could do nothing – young people who had their whole lives to live.

In the aftermath of these incidents, when the seriously injured have been left to the care of the medics in the ED, or those who did not survive have been taken to a mortuary, our crews are left with the reality of what they have just witnessed.
Understanding the terrible news that is about to be broken to some family, their thoughts often turn to their own sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. They realise the fragility of life and how it can be taken in just a moment – a moment that is all too often avoidable, but which leaves a trail of devastation.

We would ask you, particularly as we enter the Christmas period, to exercise caution on the roads and not to be responsible for any devastation on our roads.”