Clergy to bless the roads in effort to cut road deaths

Kermit.de.frog · 23-03-2015 2:05pm #1

THIS is not April 1st is it?? Cause I was under the impression it was March 23rd (2015).

People of a certain vintage might see this as a throwback to the 1950's or something.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/clergy-will-bless-irelands-roads-in-bid-to-end-carnage-31086199.html

Ever watch Father Ted and think actually it might not be that far from the truth?:pac:

Mountjoy Mugger · 23-03-2015 2:06pm

If it heightens awareness of the issue, then there's nothing wrong with it. No need to be facetious.

"The Blessing of the Roads Ceremony takes places in parts of Australia each year to raise local awareness of road safety, and we are bringing it to Mayo this year," said Noel Gibbons, road safety officer with Mayo County Council.

Witcher · 23-03-2015 2:07pm

They'd be better off taking the roads in altogether.

JaseBelleVie · 23-03-2015 2:07pm

No need to wear seatbelts on those roads then, is there? Sure, God will protect me!

kylith · 23-03-2015 2:08pm

Nah, it happens occasionally. I think they did it in Kerry last year.

I'll be taking a leaf out of their book later and sacrificing a goat in an effort to cut the rate of heart disease.

vienne86 · 23-03-2015 2:11pm

Sounds stupid, but what harm? And it might even make people think.

BoJack Horseman · 23-03-2015 2:12pm

The Road Safety Authority are now redundant.

Job done!

Cee-Jay-Cee · 23-03-2015 2:12pm

vienne86 wrote: »

Sounds stupid, but what harm? And it might even make people think.

It might also might make them think that because they're blessed they're safe to drive as they please...

Zombienosh · 23-03-2015 2:13pm

Craggy Island

jelutong · 23-03-2015 2:14pm

God has replaced Gay!

SEPT 23 1989 · 23-03-2015 2:16pm

They need to perform an exorcism on the Walkinstown roundabout

CiDeRmAn · 23-03-2015 2:17pm

Perhaps that's what that mad old bugger of a priest was doing on that Formula 1 track a couple of years ago?

Seriously though I'm all for this blessing thing.
Let's start with a good uncongested stretch of the M50, let them make their holy way to the dotted white line beside the fast lane, see how their faith keeps them safe from a speeding lorry as they lay down a few prayers.
What a load of sh1te.

Macavity. · 23-03-2015 2:19pm

Idiots.

dr.fuzzenstein · 23-03-2015 2:23pm

I hate the use of the word carnage. It's pointless "Think Of The Children" hysteria.
Ireland has 3.5 deaths per 100k population. India has 19.5. THAT is carnage.
If the authorities are constantly bleating "MASSIVE CARNAGE ON IRISH ROADS, DEATH, BLOODBATH, SHOCKER STATISTICS, BABIES WILL DIE!!!!", after a few years I just go "yeah, yeah, very nice, what's on the other channel?"
You get fatigue from all this carnage porn and you simply start ignoring it.
How about training people how to drive? Wouldn't that be a novel idea?
Because any kind of road safety message goes in one ear and out the other with me. I was getting a bit peed off with it years ago, but then "He Drives, She Dies!" and I thought "Well, that's enough of that horsesh*t for me"

whiskeyman · 23-03-2015 2:24pm

I'm incensed by this...

alchemist33 · 23-03-2015 2:25pm

Won't the holy water just make the roads slippier???

Ben D Bus · 23-03-2015 2:27pm

whiskeyman wrote: »

I'm incensed by this...

Don't worry, it hasn't a prayer of succeeding.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 23-03-2015 2:32pm

Fairly harmless gesture really, even if it is a waste of time. The internet atheists in here really don't need to go into attack mode every time anything to do with religion is brought up.

dr.fuzzenstein · 23-03-2015 2:34pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

Fairly harmless gesture really, even if it is a waste of time. The internet atheists in here really don't need to go into attack mode every time anything to do with religion is brought up.

Not really the whole God thing, it's more the Father Ted aspect of it that gets people going.

BBDBB · 23-03-2015 2:38pm

Does a Clergyman in the road affect the stopping distance of a car travelling at 60kph?

just in case its on the test ;-)

Kermit.de.frog · 23-03-2015 2:39pm

BBDBB wrote: »

Does a Clergyman in the road affect the stopping distance of a car travelling at 60kph?

just in case its on the test ;-)

That would be an ecumenical matter.

mariaalice · 23-03-2015 2:39pm

Its nuts but its not going to do any harm, and if your the type to believe in positive energies and such like you will think it will do some good.

paulbok · 23-03-2015 2:44pm

JaseBelleVie wrote: »

No need to wear seatbelts on those roads then, is there? Sure, God will protect me!

To quote the old Sinbad movies,

"Trust in Allah, but always tie up your camel."

kylith · 23-03-2015 2:48pm

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Not really the whole God thing, it's more the Father Ted aspect of it that gets people going.

Totally.

It's that they don't do anything to actually try lessen the road deaths like preach from the pulpit that people shouldn't speed, or get involved in a road safety campaign. It's like ignoring a fire extinguisher and just saying 'Jaysus, I hope the curtains don't catch fire'.

everlast75 · 23-03-2015 2:50pm

First God came for the dangerous drivers.

Now he comes for the drink drivers..

http://www.breakingnews.ie/discover/video-pint-explodes-in-louth-pub-resident-ghost-blamed-668664.html

Shenshen · 23-03-2015 2:50pm

Right up there with Paschal Donoghoe's new road sign for boreens - a completely new sign for those lanes with grass down the middle but with a speed limit of 80kph, which will tell drivers that they should stay under the 80kph.

About as useful as a kleenex for an elephant.

RomanKnows · 23-03-2015 2:50pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

Fairly harmless gesture really, even if it is a waste of time. The internet atheists in here really don't need to go into attack mode every time anything to do with religion is brought up.

Absolutely. It's harmless as you say. May even give some comfort to those who have lost friends or family due to traffic accidents.
Won't stop some supposedly enlightened neckbeards from snorting at it with all the hubris and pride of a True Dawkinian. They are rarely as enlightened about the fact the same neckbeard is an enormous barrier to having sex with another adult human.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 23-03-2015 2:54pm

kylith wrote: »

Totally.

It's that they don't do anything to actually try lessen the road deaths like preach from the pulpit that people shouldn't speed, or get involved in a road safety campaign. It's like ignoring a fire extinguisher and just saying 'Jaysus, I hope the curtains don't catch fire'.

No it's not. This is a road safety campaign.

sbsquarepants · 23-03-2015 2:56pm

RomanKnows wrote: »

Absolutely. It's harmless as you say. May even give some comfort to those who have lost friends or family due to traffic accidents.
Won't stop some supposedly enlightened neckbeards from snorting at it with all the hubris and pride of a True Dawkinian. They are rarely as enlightened about the fact the same neckbeard is an enormous barrier to having sex with another adult human.

Eh, what now?

shruikan2553 · 23-03-2015 2:57pm

RomanKnows wrote: »

Absolutely. It's harmless as you say. May even give some comfort to those who have lost friends or family due to traffic accidents.
Won't stop some supposedly enlightened neckbeards from snorting at it with all the hubris and pride of a True Dawkinian. They are rarely as enlightened about the fact the same neckbeard is an enormous barrier to having sex with another adult human.

At least we have your enlightenment. Get in line ladies, he doesn't have a neckbeard.

Going Strong · 23-03-2015 2:58pm

What about us pedestrians? Why aren't pavements being blessed to prevent us from tripping up on cracks or stepping in dog poo? Blatant discrimination!

kylith · 23-03-2015 2:59pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

No it's not. This is a road safety campaign.

How is it a road safety campaign? Maybe it might raise awareness for a day or two, but I see no quotes from priests urging people to drive more carefully, slowly, or awarely, nor have I ever. Nor have I ever heard a priest talk about road safety in his sermon, or seen anti-speeding advertisements sponsored by the RCC. This is almost as little as can humanly be done while still appearing to do something. People are laughing at this rather than considering how they might alter their behaviour to lower road deaths.

The only reason it's even raising awareness is because it's unusual and quaint enough to get into the paper, if it didn't it'd be totally unnoticed.

eviltwin · 23-03-2015 3:00pm

What do religious types think this blessing will actually do? Do they really think the road is somehow safer? It seems barmy.

mariaalice · 23-03-2015 3:01pm

RomanKnows wrote: »

Absolutely. It's harmless as you say. May even give some comfort to those who have lost friends or family due to traffic accidents.
Won't stop some supposedly enlightened neckbeards from snorting at it with all the hubris and pride of a True Dawkinian. They are rarely as enlightened about the fact the same neckbeard is an enormous barrier to having sex with another adult human.

Saying it might comfort people is not the same argument as, it will have an effect on road deaths, They are two completely different issues.

Chijj · 23-03-2015 3:03pm

It's a purely symbolic gesture, I think some people on here would be happier with a story about a priest caught for sexual abuse.......pathetic really.

whisky_galore · 23-03-2015 3:03pm

alchemist33 wrote: »

Won't the holy water just make the roads slippier???

No, but a regional road can get upgraded to motorway if it's blessed.

ScumLord · 23-03-2015 3:03pm

Seems like a typical response in Ireland, "there's too many deaths on the road, lets bless the road".

"shouldn't we look into the actual cause of all the accidents?"

"they're going too fast, tell them to slow down"

I think Irelands blanket assumption that going slow means you're going safe is a huge fallacy. I see people meandering along the roads at obscenely slow speeds, looking out the window at the fields beside them or entrenched in a face to face conversation with their passenger.

Proper driving instruction would be much more helpful. Better roads would be another improvement. Some of the country roads are downright dangerous they're so uneven and full of potholes. Whenever the council do work they seem to pay no heed to the fact if they don't repair the road properly it will sink. The roads around here have sunken squares all over them where they've dug up a small bit of road and just thrown some tar and chippings into the hole and patted it down with a shovel.

Going slow doesn't not counteract dangerous drivers, if anything it makes them more prone to mistakes because they seem to think they can do no wrong at 70kph.

elefant · 23-03-2015 3:03pm

whiskeyman wrote: »

I'm incensed by this...

There was a spider in the bath last night.

mariaalice · 23-03-2015 3:07pm

We also live a free country thank god

That mean I can go out in to my garden and do a dance to call down the great water spirit if that is what I believe In and that not going to harm any one else.

Neyite · 23-03-2015 3:09pm

I find it amusing. A bit of PR for the RCC I suppose.

Areyouwell · 23-03-2015 3:09pm

Focusing attention on a very serious issue like this can only be a good thing imo.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 23-03-2015 3:14pm

kylith wrote: »

How is it a road safety campaign? Maybe it might raise awareness for a day or two, but I see no quotes from priests urging people to drive more carefully, slowly, or awarely, nor have I ever. Nor have I ever heard a priest talk about road safety in his sermon, or seen anti-speeding advertisements sponsored by the RCC. This is almost as little as can humanly be done while still appearing to do something. People are laughing at this rather than considering how they might alter their behaviour to lower road deaths.

The only reason it's even raising awareness is because it's unusual and quaint enough to get into the paper, if it didn't it'd be totally unnoticed.

Is it the church's responsibility to educate people on road safety now? They're going out of their way to perform some ceremony to promote road safety and people are whinging because they're not doing it the right way. Unbelievable, really.

The Backwards Man · 23-03-2015 3:14pm

Won't do any good, but I'm struggling to see how it will do any harm either.

Nothing like road safety to bring out the 'I know better than you' in people.

kylith · 23-03-2015 3:16pm

mariaalice wrote: »

We also live a free country thank god That mean I can go out in to my garden and do a dance to call down the great water spirit if that is what I believe In and that not going to harm any one else.

Yep. And anyone else has the right to point and laugh while you do so.

kylith · 23-03-2015 3:26pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

Is it the church's responsibility to educate people on road safety now? They're going out of their way to perform some ceremony to promote road safety and people are whinging because they're not doing it the right way. Unbelievable, really.

Well, if their taking it upon themselves to bless the roads, hoping it'll magically reduce deaths, I wouldn't have thought that spending 5 minutes at the pulpit telling people that orange lights mean 'stop' and to take it easy on bends would be beyond the realms of possibility.

Muahahaha · 23-03-2015 3:27pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

Fairly harmless gesture really, even if it is a waste of time. The internet atheists in here really don't need to go into attack mode every time anything to do with religion is brought up.

I agree its harmless and if priests want to bless the roads then they're free to do so. However this part worries me

"The Blessing of the Roads Ceremony takes places in parts of Australia each year to raise local awareness of road safety, and we are bringing it to Mayo this year," said Noel Gibbons, road safety officer with Mayo County Council.

Mayo has a pretty high rate of road fatalities, most likely in part because the roads in Mayo are poorly surfaced and engineered. I would much prefer that the road safety officer of Mayo County Council is addressing those issues rather than getting involved in saying prayers in the hope they're solved. Road deaths in Mayo almost DOUBLED last year.

THE Road Safety Officer with Mayo County Council has said ‘alarm bells are ringing’ after road deaths in the county almost doubled in the last year.
The year 2014 was an ‘annus horribilis’ for road safety campaigners in Mayo, with the tragic death of Kilmaine pensioner Michael Paul Murphy bringing the number of deaths on Mayo’s roads to eleven. The figure is shocking when compared to the previous year, when six people died on the county’s roads.
The increase in road deaths is a significant step in the wrong direction for road safety campaigners who had seen a significant drop in deaths over the last number of years. In 2012, there were seven deaths on the road and it fell further in 2013 when six people lost their lives. This year’s figures match the number of deaths for 2011 while eight died in 2010.
Noel Gibbons, Mayo County Council’s Road Safety Officer said the increase in deaths was disappointing.
“It is a huge increase on last year, and it is disheartening to see the figures rise again,” he told The Mayo News. “Eleven deaths is a lot, and the alarm bells are ringing for us now, because it was not expected. We definitely hoped for a further decrease at the start of the year. We will have to break down the figures and analyse [where the deaths occurred] and we will have to work to decrease that number for next year.”

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21203:road-deaths-almost-double-in-mayo&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

ScumLord · 23-03-2015 3:29pm

mariaalice wrote: »

We also live a free country thank god That mean I can go out in to my garden and do a dance to call down the great water spirit

You must have a very active church. Could ye stop please.

mariaalice · 23-03-2015 3:32pm

ScumLord wrote: »

You must have a very active church. Could ye stop please.

This was last year during the heat wave and my roses were wilting I had to do something.

Macavity. · 23-03-2015 3:32pm

Renata Wooden Fruit wrote: »

Fairly harmless gesture really, even if it is a waste of time. The internet atheists in here really don't need to go into attack mode every time anything to do with religion is brought up.

Not attacking, it's just so utterly laughable and bizarre.

mariaalice · 23-03-2015 3:35pm

I do think it should have been a ceremony of all faiths and none, and maybe it should have been focused on all using there collective energies and abilities to reduce road deaths.

Dog of Tears · 23-03-2015 3:37pm

Ridiculous idea.

Engineering and Driver Behaviour are the key facets of road safety and is where those charged with promoting road safety in the Local Authorities should be focussing their attention.

This pathetic attempt from the god-botherers to try to put themselves front and centre of an issue they have nothing to do with, is retarded.

Clergy to bless the roads in effort to cut road deaths

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