Mayo students hear harrowing tales at road safety event
One of this year's guest speakers was comedian and road accident survivor Steve Timothy (aka 'Farmer Michael'. Picture: Michael McLaughlin
More than 1,600 Mayo students attended a hard-hitting road safety event last Thursday.
The AXA Roadsafe Roadshow returned to the county as an in-person event for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Secondary school students from across Mayo attended the roadshow in the TF Royal Theatre, Castlebar. The event was held in the wake of 60 road deaths in Ireland so far this year. Mayo is the worst impacted county in the nation in 2024 with eight deaths on our roads in the first 10 weeks of the year.
There were first-hand accounts from a garda, paramedic, fire officer and emergency department consultant. Families and friends of victims as well as survivors of road accidents were also on hand to tell their harrowing stories, and there was a graphic re-enactment of what emergency services have to deal with when they attend the scene of a serious road accident.
Gary Smyth, Acting Road Safety Officer with Mayo County Council, explained: “The Roadshow is aimed at Transition Year students and the objective of the show is to encourage young road users, and those about to commence their driving career, to adopt a more responsible attitude in terms of their own driving behaviour."
Garda Inspector David Tiernan, head of the Mayo Roads Unit, told the that the Roadshow has never been more timely.
“This event really is timely. It’s an opportunity to get 1,600 Transition Year students in here and explain to them exactly what’s going on,” said Insp Tiernan. “I have teenagers myself and I know what it’s like trying to drill that message home."
Insp Tiernan said he believed there are several factors behind the rise in road deaths in Mayo.
“People can say we need more enforcement, absolutely and we are trying our best in that regard. Engineering works and road works need to be improved is my belief and we also need people to take responsibility when they get behind the wheel,” he stated.
During a re-enactment of a fatal road accident, the audience heard from Mayo-based Garda Michael Gorman, paramedic Derek Walsh, fire officer Jason Keane and Mayo University Hospital emergency department consultant Lisa Cunningham.
“I can’t forget the wrecked lives I have seen,” Gda Gorman told the audience.
Comedian and social media star Stevo Timothy recounted the story of how he was involved in an accident that claimed the life of the pillion passenger on his motorbike whilst he was drunk driving. He said he was faced with the prospect of taking his own life, continuing to drink or trying to make a difference to the lives of others.
“The third option was to get out, be public about it, be brutally honest about what happened. Deal with the shame, deal with the guilt, deal with my own injuries and try to warn people not to do what I did,” he said.
The show culminated in a heart-breaking presentation by Leo Lieghio who lost his 16-year-old daughter Marsia 18 years ago in a hit-and-run in Dublin.
“Losing a child is the most indescribable, painful experience that anyone can ever have. Nothing in the world can ever hurt me again. You just learn to carry on but the pain is always there, the tears just below the surface,” said Leo.
