Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Shutterstock/Rawpixel.com

New research shows 10% of children do not wear seatbelts while travelling on Irish roads

Gardaí have warned motorists to safeguard everyone who gets into a vehicle.

THE ROAD SAFETY Authority (RSA) and gardaí have appealed to parents as new research showed how 10% of children travelling in vehicles were not using proper restraints such as child car seats or seat belts.

Last year. the RSA conducted a nationwide study that observed seatbelt usage by 3,861 children both in the front and the rear seats of the vehicle.

As part of that particular study, 93% of children were wearing seatbelts. However, when observing children in the rear of the vehicle only, the number dropped to 89%.

According to the RSA, the figures show that some parents are still allowing their children to travel in cars without being securely buckled in.

Transport Minister Shane Ross urged parents to make sure their children are safe when they are in a car.

“With children returning to school over the coming weeks, traffic levels will increase, and motorists need to be mindful of our most vulnerable road users. I am asking parents to ensure any child travelling in their vehicle is using their seatbelt or the correct child restraint, and to educate children to be vigilant when out walking or cycling to school.”

The RSA’s chairperson, Liz O’Donnell, said that the latest stats are “very worrying”.

She added: “This is very worrying especially when you consider that the most dangerous thing a child does each day is travel as a passenger in a car. A child cannot be responsible for their own safety.

It’s up to us as responsible adults to do the right thing to ensure their safety. Every child travelling in a car must use a child car seat or wear a seatbelt. I am urging parents to ensure that children are safely and securely restrained, even on the shortest trip.

Assistant Garda Commissioner David Sheahan, of the National Roads Policing Unit, said: the non-wearing of seatbelts by children under 17 is not only against the law but is extremely dangerous.

“We continue to see fatalities where a vehicle occupant was not wearing a seatbelt and therefore had no protection in a collision. By law, all children under 150cms in height or 36kgs in weight must use a child restraint system (CRS) suitable for their height and weight while travelling in a car.”

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
35 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute kevin mc cormack
    Favourite kevin mc cormack
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:28 AM

    Is this what a CPO was meant for? I thought it was for infrastructure projects not vanity ones by a certain person in the council.

    204
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Irish Names
    Favourite Irish Names
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 11:40 AM

    @kevin mc cormack: CPO is a powerful tool that was meant to be used for very specific public projects like roads – now it’s being used to communise private property for all sorts of projects – it is due a retest in the Supreme Court / of course the council are banking on no one having the funds to challenge it.

    67
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Favourite Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:48 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: it can used for a number of reasons.

    20
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patricia O'Reilly
    Favourite Patricia O'Reilly
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:32 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: Dublin City council are just a bunch of ego’s. The betterment of the city is not on their agenda. The Abbey is indeed a credible venture but at what cost to housing and drugs and poverty in the city centre.. they have as always their priorities wrong.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Valentine Kane
    Favourite Valentine Kane
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:59 AM

    And yet we cant do that to fix a housing crisis

    73
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute EillieEs
    Favourite EillieEs
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:51 AM

    @Valentine Kane: fixing the housing problem is a tad more complicated than slapping a CPO on a few buildings. It’s also down to national government and not council policy.

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Valentine Kane
    Favourite Valentine Kane
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 7:26 PM

    @EillieEs: agreed sir, but there are thousands of houses standing idle that have not been lived in for years that could be purchased using a CPO but there is no will to do so, we have people dieing on the streets, in 3 months time we will be back into autumn and then winter.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute HonDeDeise
    Favourite HonDeDeise
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 7:53 AM

    Good.

    66
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Garreth Byrne
    Favourite Garreth Byrne
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:17 AM

    Good thinking. The Abbey needs to expand and put more bums on seats.

    55
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Right
    Favourite Richard Right
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:29 AM

    @Garreth Byrne: Hasn’t sold out in 18mths.

    70
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Craic_a_tower
    Favourite Craic_a_tower
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:13 AM

    @Richard Right: has it even been open? Have you ever been there?

    35
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mr. G
    Favourite Mr. G
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:18 AM

    @Craic_a_tower:

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:16 PM

    @Garreth Byrne: Yes, it’s good news. It’s been packed every time I went and no one wants to see run-down quays. I’ve always preferred the Peacock but if it’s crowded for the audience, it must be stifling backstage.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:19 PM

    @Fiona Fitzgerald: It is backstage in both venues is tight, very tight. It means that the shows do suffer. Cant use black stages all the time, sets and props etc can make or break a show.
    Cant use them properly if you have no room.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rob Gale
    Favourite Rob Gale
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:36 AM

    Really good and surprising news. The first good thing DCC have done in eons. Wouldn’t be surprised if they unveiled it and it turned out to actually be a theatre themed hotel.

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Tallon
    Favourite William Tallon
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:35 AM

    @Rob Gale: So when did providing drinking water for the city and treating and disposing of all that sewage on a daily basis stop being a good thing…

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:17 PM

    @Rob Gale: With a canoe course

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Thomas M Bourke
    Favourite Thomas M Bourke
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:29 PM

    So what are the business impacted.. here is a quick list while I’m waiting for my coffee to cool off a bit:

    18 Eden Quay is Tracey’s Pharmacy
    19 Eden Quay is Marian Pilgrimages/ Croatia Tours
    20 Eden Quay is (was?) a Hairdresser
    21 Eden Quay is a Hong Kong bakery and bubble tea shop – only opened in March :(
    24-26 Abbey Street Lower was Smyths Solicitors they moved pre pandemic (if I recall correctly) and the building now looks like a Goth’s delight with the amount of black paint
    20 Old Abbey Street appears to be Abbey Law Solicitors (although they should update the map on their website – Jimmy Chung’s has been gone for over a year now!)

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 2:56 PM

    @Thomas M Bourke: Best comment, actually listing what used to be there. If the whole front crumbled into the Liffey, there would still be people giving out, people who never go into town.

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul
    Favourite Paul
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:09 AM

    Maybe consider converting some or part of the newly acquisitioned properties into apartments for staff

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liam Collins
    Favourite Liam Collins
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:11 AM

    @Paul: why

    112
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brefanlfc
    Favourite brefanlfc
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 5:34 PM

    @Liam Collins: Because he’s staff

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jimmy Jones
    Favourite Jimmy Jones
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 12:52 AM

    “The Abbey is the leaseholder for the abbey street buildings “
    I hate it when you get to the line in an article that should explain the central point in the article and the journalist has dozed off and used completely ambiguous wording. Sorry, but lazy is the only word that fits.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony Clark
    Favourite Anthony Clark
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 3:53 PM

    Thats a lot of buildings facing the liffey – some very nice ones too (like Eden House and some nice Georgean buildings)
    I hope they can keep as much of the old buildings and style as possible.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Saigionsive
    Favourite Saigionsive
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 12:02 PM

    Should be on a green field site outside the m50, think of all the arts patrons who won’t be able to use the luas

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds