‘Teach road safety to our kids in school’
»»Parents of slain boy’s education call »»Couplehonoured for campaign work
If you catch them young it will sow a positive seed in them
RONAN TREACY ON EDUCATING DRIVERS
THE parents of a four-year-old boy killed by a drunk motorist have called for road safety to be part of the primary and secondary school curriculums.
The death of Gillian and Ronan Treacy’s boy Ciaran has featured in a long-running ad against getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.
Speaking on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Ciaran’s death, Gillian and Ronan said responsible driving should be taught and encouraged in schools from an early age.
Ronan said: “Young people are the demographic we are targeting with this message, they are the ones that are heading out on the roads.
“If you catch them young, it will sow a positive seed in them and hopefully carry it through their driving life.”
Gillian, who was seriously injured in the collision which claimed Ciaran’s life, said a combination of theory and practical road safety and driver training should be taught in schools.
She explained: “There definitely should be both [theory and practical], it is one thing knowing the theory but putting it into practice is another thing.”
Ms Treacy said their eldest son, Sean, who turns 18 this year, and who was travelling with his mother and brother Ciaran when the fatal collision occurred, “is going to be thinking about driving soon, so it is a huge worry for us after everything that happened in our house”.
Ms Treacy, who for the past six years was a former board director at the Road Safety Authority, added: “All we can do is instil a bit of sense into him, and remind him that it’s not just about him and us, it’s about other road users, and not to bring that heartache on another family.
She said: “We really want to make it be a part of everyday thinking that drink-driving, drug-driving is completely unacceptable.”
The couple from Portarlington, Co Laois, along with members of the emergency services that fought to save Ciaran’s life, bravely fronted the RSA’S “Crashed Lives” television advertising campaign in 2016.
They were yesterday honoured with the Oisin Crotty Road Safety Award 2024
at University of Limerick, led by An Garda Siochana, the University, and funded by ESB.
After presenting Mr and Mrs Treacy with the award, Sean Crotty, whose 19-year-old son and ESB apprentice Oisin Crotty, from The Rower, Co Kilkenny, lost his life in a road collision in 2013, said: “I wanted to be here on behalf of Oisin to support his memory and to do what I could with getting a message out about road safety.”
Reminding people of the wider impact of road deaths, Mr Crotty said: “The aftermath is absolutely horrible.
“Oisin is gone, we love him to bits, but the cross left behind for the family is incredible, sometimes unbearable.”
At yesterday’s event, students from UL, South East Technological University and Maynooth University showcased road safety projects they designed. The
winning design from MU, including Klaudia Pasternak, Victory Omorodion, Saoirse Smith, Eamonn Kane and Elizabeth Imole, which will be used as part of Garda road safety campaign, involved the image of a dice entitled, “Chances of you getting home safe aren’t as high as you are”.
Sergeant Tony Miniter, Limerick Roads Policing Unit, who spearheaded the initiative, said he has had to attend the homes of five families and inform them their loved one has been killed in a road traffic collision.
Sergeant Miniter told students: “This is about generating a conversation around not wanting to take drugs and drive – not just because the guards might catch you, but because you don’t want to.”
Chief Superintendent Derek Smart, Limerick Garda Division, said of Gillian and Ronan: “Their bravery for getting the message out is something we are asking you now to take on, you have started the conversation, so keep the conversation going.”
Finbarr O’rourke, 49, of Portlaoise, Co Laois, was jailed in 2016 for seven-and-a -half years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Ciaran on April 17, 2014.
The sentence was later reduced by 18 months at the Court of Appeal. He was disqualified from driving for 20 years.