21/03/2005

New road safety campaign for young people

Environment Minister Angela Smith has launched a new Road Safety campaign highlighting the dangers faced by young people on the roads.

Speaking at the launch of the new advertising campaign, Ms Smith said too many lives had been lost needlessly because either drivers or young pedestrians did not exercise proper care and failed to behave appropriately on our roads.

“We must raise awareness of the danger young people face on the roads and highlight what they can do to keep themselves safe and ultimately alive,” the Minister said.

"I am therefore very proud of this campaign, which not only highlights how vulnerable our young people are on our roads, but also considers the enormous influence this age group comes under from peer pressure.”

Central to the campaign, which has been developed by the DOE in Northern Ireland and the National Safety Council in the Republic, is a TV advertisement aimed at capturing the attention and interest of young people using the road safety message - Stop. Look. Listen. Live.

The campaign stresses the need for young people to think for themselves and influence their peers rather than the traditional approach of "adults telling children what to do".

The campaign was jointly commissioned by the Department of Environment (DOE) and the National Safety Council (NSC), Republic of Ireland.

(MB/KMcA)

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