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VICTIMS OF ROAD traffic collisions will be remembered at masses and ceremonies all over the country tomorrow.
23,949 people have died on Irish roads since records began in 1959. Already this year, over 160 families and communities have lost a loved one.
In Dublin, the main event of this year’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims will be at St Michan’s Church in Dublin 7, where family members and emergency services staff will attend a special mass at midday.
In Cork, the PARC Road Safety Group, which was set up by family members of people who lost their lives in crashes, will hold a ceremony at Loreto Sports Hall in Fermoy in Cork tomorrow afternoon.
Events are also planned for Limerick, Galway and at other locations around the country and a full list is available at the Road Safety Authority website.
“When we read reports of the numbers of people who are killed or injured on our roads, we need to remember that there are real lives, real families and real communities behind these statistics,” Liz O’Donnell, Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority, said.
For thousands of families around the country, their lives are forever changed as a result of a collision.
It’s not enough to just keep these people in our hopes and prayers once a year, rather we must all commit to work together and take responsibility for our behaviour on the roads, and create real change, out of respect for their memories.
Members of PARC have also been highlighting the importance of keeping loved ones of those killed in crashes informed and up-to-date with the investigation process.
The group, made up of volunteers from around the country, has been producing a guide for family members of those killed or seriously injured in crashes since 2012.
The latest version, which has been updated in the wake of Garda Commissioner Noirín O Sullivan’s decision to waive the controversial documentation fees charged to families of victims, will be launched at PARC’s Cork event tomorrow.
‘Finding Your Way’
Ann Fogarty, whose husband was killed in a crash in 2001 as they were travelling through south Co Dublin, has been volunteering with PARC and helping families as they work with authorities and attend hearings in the wake of life-altering tragedies like the one she endured.
Ann suffered severe injuries in the crash and had a long road to recovery.
“I just found I was excluded from the case completely. I really didn’t understand anything of what went on,” Ann told TheJournal.ie, saying her experience and that of the families she’d spoken to underscored the need for their ‘Finding Your Way’ guide.
Now I was struggling with injuries as well as bereavement. My brain just didn’t work at all – didn’t retain anything.
I didn’t know what was going on around me and I didn’t understand the process. And I didn’t even understand it when it was all over never mind when it began.
Authorities need to do more to engage with family members in such situations and take account of what they’re going through, she said.
The booklet, which can be downloaded from PARC’s website, contains straightforward information on a range of subjects – covering everything from the immediate aftermath of a serious or fatal road crash, to paperwork, post-mortems, inquests and criminal trials.
‘Wall of Remembrance’
For people who can’t get along to any of tomorrow’s events, the Road Safety Authority will have an online ‘Wall of Remembrance’ on its Facebook page where people can share their memories.
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Drive 100km in any direction in an unmarked car any time any day and if you have a passenger you can play “Spot the Looney”. Another crash on the M50 last night. I don’t know how more innocent people are not killed on the Nàas Road. There are quite a few of these thick who seem to have no idea that the inside lane goes all the way to Nàas and back to Dublin. If someone wants to do 140km in the outside lane these idiots should not be forcing me and you out in front of them because they are holding up the centre lane. The answer is Traffic Corp out there driving the roads and pulling these people that are causing deaths off the road and at least warning them, not hiding behind a bush with a thing like a hair dryer to see if Clare Grade is 4mph over the limit. Either get these people to drive right on the road or get them off the road.
@Tom Fennelly: With 1 in 5 drugged up to the eyeballs according to the earlier journal item more roadside testing needs to be done as years of trying to encourage road safety nicely has obviously failed. Take the cars away from offenders and be done with it.
Agree with most of your comment but don’t understand what you mean by “forcing me and you in front of them” Can’t you just stay in the driving lane?
I’ll explain again so. Ok, imagine the inside lane is empty for a half mile in front of you. You are doing 80kmh on a 3 lane motorway. You drive up behind a looney in the centre lane and he is doing 70kmh in the centre lane when he should be in the inside lane (where you will go as well after you overtake) If he was in the correct lane, the inside lane you would not have to pull into the fast lane in front of a car doing 120kmh.
You may have missed the quiz here about 2 months ago when the question “When can you overtake on the left”? The answer was When traffic in the right hand lane is moving slower than the left. On motorways you can stay in the driving lane to pass hoggers. And you should never pull into the “fast lane” without yielding to traffic already in that lane. If caught you would be charged for committing the offence of careless driving or the more serious offence of dangerous driving. No such lane as fast lane, I assume you mean the overtaking lane(s).
Take the quiz again And, unless you have been on cloud cuckoo land there is nothing wrong with calling the outside lane, the overtaking lane, the lane nearest the central median the fast lane. You know the lane I mean You either agree or you don’t that those hogging the middle lane are the cause of accidents. I wish you luck overtaking on the inside and hope that a family after overtaking a hogger can see you coming up on the inside when they decide to pull into the inside lane. Anyone who thinks it’s safe to overtake on the inside of a 3 lane motorway at 100kph should have their lisence taken from them because at the speeds I quoted above that’s what you are suggesting people do. The fact remains, drivers hogging the middle lane are causing accidents and deaths and if you were on a motorway in England a police car with a nice “Follow Us” sign would pull you off the motorway. The point I make is that here, in places along 3 lane motorways the width of football fields there are speed traps at places with ridiculous speed limits while these idiots are free to cause accidents.
It’s not only the lane nearest to the central median, it’s ALL lanes other than the driving lane that are called the overtaking lanes. Secondly dangerous drivers like hoggers don’t cause “accidents”, they cause crashes. If the family overtakes the hogger then decide to move back into the inside lane it is not their’s but the drivers responsibility who’s duty is to drive with due care and attention. I know exactly what the law is in Ireland and the UK on lane hogging. I also know it is not an offence to stay in the driving lane to pass hoggers. Did you do the quiz? Look at question 5, it proves my point on nearside overtaking.
Ok. We will leave it there so. You know as you say all about the law in Ireland and “UK” Before you put on your know it all cap the answer to the quiz you refer to relates to “when it is safe to do so” mainly referring to passing while other motorists are making a right turn. I simply made a point about drivers hogging the middle lane and I don’t need the likes of you to explain to me that you know it all or do I need the likes of you to explain to me the difference between a crash and an accident. Keep passing by on motorways on the inside at 100kph and condone drivers causing a danger for the reasons I have stated.
This discussion is about the legality of passing on inside and not about if it’s safe to do so.. I also pointer out if you had read my next comment that you will be charged for weaving in and out of traffic. If the outside lanes are moving slower than the lane I use 90% of my driving on motorways I will pass on inside and I will not be at fault if the hogger pulls into my lane without yielding. If you don’t agree with my driving by saying I am causing danger then you are defending the hogger, or maybe you are a lane hogger. If you think undertaking is dangerous then you are saying it’s dangerous to overtake a left hand driven vehicle. Maybe you should keep off motorways and take alternative routes.
I’d certainly want to keep off motorways if mouths like you were driving in them anyway.
If come across many knowalls like you who just cannot accept facts. if you want to take the long way around best of luck to you but remember if you don’t yield to those already in that lane then it’s YOU who is at fault.
I am well aware about the yielding bit without YOU telling me. I gave up engaging with dimwits who operate under faceless false names on here. Bye. Safe driving – at least for those on the same road.
Is that the thanks I get for educating you. Bit of advice, get your facts right before you challenge those who know what their talking about. Tommy fast lane Fennelly.
We need remember there are 2 billion road journeys made each year in Ireland, the statistics are so infinitesimal you could never legislate risk out of the equation. Rises and falls have more to do with the Fibonachi scale of mathematics than anything else, you can’t eradicate risk out of any human endeavour and it perhaps foolish to believe otherwise. I’d much rather the RSA gave the money for thier resources towards mental heath issues, somewhere where it could be more effective. Having lost my father, yes one death is to many, nevertheless there is no accounting for pure accidents and pure mistakes and pure stupidity..
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