Road Safety Week – We All Share the Responsibility

Crash scene

The focus for Road Safety Week (14 – 20 November) this year is on road users’ personal responsibility for road safety and the consequences for crash victims.

The Department for Infrastructure is collaborating with the emergency services in Northern Ireland to urge everyone to be aware of the particular vulnerabilities we all face when we travel.

Regrettably, more than 9/10 deaths and serious injuries on roads here are due to human error – a mistake by someone using the road.

Almost all road traffic collisions are caused by people behaving carelessly, dangerously or simply ignoring the law.

The main causes of road casualties continue to be driver carelessness / inattention, speeding, impaired through drink /drug driving and failure to wear a seatbelt in the event of a collision.

Most of these collisions are avoidable. By challenging ourselves to address these 4 main problems in our own behaviour, road deaths and serious injuries would be reduced and more lives would be saved.

We are all responsible for our own actions and for the consequences. We have a responsibility to do all we can to ease the pain, loss and suffering to individuals, families and communities caused by road traffic collisions.

Take a moment to think about the injuries people receive in collisions and the difficulty of having to break shocking news to road victims’ parents and loved ones.

Lives can be dramatically changed forever. It’s not just the lives of those involved in collisions that crash - the devastating consequences have far-reaching effects on family, relatives, friends and work colleagues.

See the devastation of the victims and families through these real life stories www.crashedlives.com

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