“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY no memory of the accident at all. Nor do I even have any memory of the job I was doing before the accident.”
On 23 February 2009, 13 years ago this week, Laura Doherty suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a road collision. It would change her life, and her family’s lives, forever.
At the time of her crash, Laura was working as a doctor in Temple Street Hospital. Feeling tired after a long shift, and en route from Dublin to Sligo for a job interview, she tried to overtake another vehicle just outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford.
“I don’t know if I must have thought I was still on the motorway and that it was safe to overtake,” she says. “But it wasn’t safe.” After pulling out from behind the vehicle in front, Laura met another vehicle coming towards her in the opposite direction. She attempted to swerve to avoid it, and the vehicle hit her car on the driver’s side.
The consequences for Laura and her family were immediate and “major,” says her mother Patricia.
First of all there was the trauma of not knowing what was going to happen. Whether she was going to die or survive. Once she survived then, there was all the other trauma… We realised it was going to be a major uphill battle.
Lasting impact
Laura spent a year in a wheelchair as she learned to walk again. Today, she can walk and move independently, but there are other long-term effects from her injuries: most significantly, problems with her short-term cognition, memory loss, and the epilepsy she developed following the crash.
“It’s a completely different life. I’m a different person to what I was. I’ll forget what I did, or what I’m doing today. It’s hard to plan, things like that.”
Laura’s parents and siblings support her to live as independently as she can, ensuring she always has someone there to help her with everyday tasks and providing transport to help her get from A to B.
“The brain injury deprived [Laura] of an awful lot of normal things,” says Patricia.
It is difficult to see everyone else going on with their lives, the life that she was hoping to have. It is difficult for her, in a major way. Sometimes people underestimate that, they don’t realise that. But she just gets up and gets on with her life.
Journey to zero
Last year in Ireland, over a thousand families like Laura’s got the life-altering news that a loved one had died or was seriously injured as a result of a road collision.
It’s a tragedy that happens far too often, but within the coming decades, it’s hoped Ireland will reach a point where no more families will have to experience such pain.
The government’s new Road Safety Strategy for 2021 – 2030, Our Journey Towards Vision Zero, sets out an ambitious plan to cut the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Irish roads in half by 2030. This means reducing the number of road deaths annually from 144 to 72 or lower, and reducing the number of serious injuries annually from 1,259 to 630 or lower.
By 2050, the goal is for those numbers to be cut to zero.
The strategy’s Phase 1 Action Plan covers the years 2021 to 2024, and is backed by government investment of €3.7bn. A total of 50 high-impact actions and 136 support actions are included in the plan.
Enforcement of “lifesaving offences” – like driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone while driving – will continue to be a priority, with increased sanctions for drug, polydrug and alcohol use.
An increased investment in road infrastructure is another core theme, supporting the creation of more “forgiving” roadsides (for example, roadsides with flexible crash barriers that could help to minimise the impact of a collision), and supporting the development of safer road environments for vulnerable road users.
Other actions include the potential creation of an online portal for people to upload footage of road traffic offences which could assist with prosecutions, and improved walking and cycling facilities.
These developments, along with prioritisation of life-changing technology like Intelligent Speed Assistance, will be key in helping Ireland achieve its road safety targets.
The Phase 1 Action Plan places a particular emphasis on speed, the single biggest contributory factor to collisions and road deaths in Ireland. Between now and the end of 2024, Ireland’s framework for the setting of speed limits will be reviewed, and among the potential changes to be considered is a 30km/hr default speed limit for urban areas.
Shared responsibility
Our Journey Towards Vision Zero is described by the Road Safety Authority as being the “public’s strategy.” Not only does it represent real public input in the form of over 2,000 responses from people around Ireland, but it’s also a strategy that calls on a shared commitment from people around the country.
From those who design roadways, to those using the roads, to the first responders at the scene of a collision, every single person has a shared obligation to help make our roads safer and reduce – or prevent – the lasting consequences of a collision. The Safe System Approach, which is central to the Vision Zero strategy, emphasises this responsibility.
Our roads are spaces where mutual respect and consideration is key, and spaces where we all must work together to prioritise the safety of those who are most vulnerable, like children and the elderly.
Road traffic collisions like Laura’s can happen in an instant, and the effects can be colossal, says Patricia.
It only takes a second, it only takes an absolute second, to change your life completely… You learn to live with it, you learn to adjust to it, but it’s never going to be the same.
Every one of us has a role to play in making Vision Zero a reality, starting with reducing deaths on Ireland’s roads by 50% by 2050. Learn more about our journey towards Vision Zero – and the shared commitments we all must make – by watching the video above.
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