[Article] Families hold service on UN day for road victims

Victor

By 2020, road traffic injuries and deaths will become the third most serious health problem in the world.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/9338112?view=Eircomnet

Families hold service on UN day for road victims
From:ireland.com
Monday, 20th November, 2006

Bereaved families and relatives gathered at the Augustinian Church in Drogheda yesterday for a Mass to mark the UN world day of remembrance for road traffic victims yesterday. Alison Healy reports.

Fr Iggy O'Donovan of St Augustine's Priory said it was not a day to blame, condemn, or dig up old grudges. "We are here to remember," he said.

He paid tribute to Michael O'Neill from Monasterboice who had ensured that the day would be marked in some way when it emerged that the Government had no plans to commemorate road traffic victims.

"His initiative has created this day here today which I believe has been created in other parts of Ireland as well," Fr O'Donovan said. "He, and not any great State authority."

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the deaths of Mr O'Neill's daughter Fiona (21) and her boyfriend Dominic Wogan (23). They were just moments from Fiona's house when their car was in collision with a lorry. They were due to leave for Australia half an hour later.

Dominic Wogan's parents, Jim and Eileen, said they were grateful for the chance to remember their son. "It's a lovely thing to remember. It's only now that we are able to talk about it and it's still not easy," Mr Wogan said.

Mrs Wogan remembered Dominic as "the pet, the youngest, the baby of the family. He'd do anything for you".

Members of the Garda Síochána, the fire service and the medical service attended yesterday's ceremony and carried gifts to the altar, including a UN flag, a candle and flowers.

The church pillars were covered in posters made by local students from Our Lady's College, Greenhills. One warned that 1.2 million people worldwide would die in road crashes this year. Another said 50 million people had been disabled for life.

Fr O'Donovan told the congregation that 21,000 people had died in road collisions here in the past 35 years. "That's six times more than in all the political violence, terrorism and all the rest of it that afflicted the island in that period," he said.

He recalled once receiving the body of a young soldier who was killed on UN duty and said his family had some small consolation in knowing that the soldier had died working for a greater good.

But the relatives of road traffic victims had no such consolation, Fr O'Donovan said. "They don't see the community benefiting as it did in the case I just mentioned. Rather, they see ongoing statistics and they hear of ongoing horrors, week in, week out, which adds to their pain."

The congregation heard two poems about road crashes from local composer Michael Holohan. The first Alone was by Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer. The other was Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break which describes the death of his young brother.

The first reading was given by Drogheda mayor Micheál O'Dowd while the music was provided by St Peter's Male Voice Choir.

Afterwards, Mr O'Neill said he hoped parishes all over the country would take up this idea and that annual events would be held around the State on this date. "It's about letting others know they are not the only ones out there. Our thoughts are with them all," he said.

Also marking the day, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said we still had "an unacceptable rate of deaths and injuries on our roads". Mr Cullen urged all road users to take extra care.

Gardaí at Tramore, Co Waterford, are investigating a traffic collision at 4.30pm yesterday at Lemybrien, Dungarvan. A man in his 50s died after the vehicle he was driving was involved in a collision. A passenger with him and the occupants of the other vehicle were taken to Waterford Regional Hospital.

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=8498&lang=ENG&loc=1887

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, 19 November
17 November 2006

Statement from the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, T.D.

This Sunday (19 November 2006) has been designated World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims by the UN General Assembly. It is well known that we have an unacceptable rate of deaths and injuries on our roads. These deaths are devastating families and communities. This year 324 people have died on Irish roads. While this number is less than have been killed this time last year, nothing less than a sustained reduction in road accidents is acceptable to me.

A number of initiatives have been put in place this year to try to combat road deaths - mandatory alcohol testing; extension of the penalty points; the establishment of both the Garda traffic corps and the Road Safety Authority (RSA). The RSA is working on a road safety strategy that will set out the roadmap for road safety in this country for the next five years 2007-2011. The Government is committed to enforcing the tough measures already initiated but the role of each individual road user cannot be emphasised enough in playing a part in this process. I would ask car users and passengers to always wear a seat belt in a car whether seated in the back or the front, keep a check on tyres, do not drink and drive and do not speed.

Over the recent week, 6th to the 12th November, the Gardaí arrested 441 drivers suspected of drink driving. The previous week a figure of 420 was recorded. Drinking and driving is not acceptable. Fatigue while driving can be avoided by taking breaks. If you feel tired, do not press on. Please take a break. Have respect for your own life and the lives of other road users.

People need not die on our roads. As we reflect this Sunday and remember those who have died as a result of car accidents, I would urge all road users, whether cycling, walking or driving, to have consideration for others and to take extra care.

Date of issue: Friday 17 November 2006

TheNog

The guy bringing the candle to the alter is a good friend of mine.