'Holistic approach' needed to tackle problems caused by Mayo boy-racers, says TD
A Mayo TD said she is committed to tackling the issues caused by car enthusiasts who gather every weekend at Derrinumera on the main Castlebar to Newport roadway.
Deputy Keira Keogh said up to 100 car owners come together at a time, usually on Saturday night.
Families living nearby are struggling to get their young children to sleep because of the noise created by the boy-racers speeding and performing doughnuts on the road.
The Westport-based representative stated: "An holistic approach is needed to meet young people where they are at.
"There are a lot of car enthusiasts in Westport, Mayo in general, Donegal and Galway.
"We have to meet them where they are at in an holistic way by bringing them to the table and offering them organised ways to show off the cars they are so proud of in a safe manner.
"We also need to tackle distracted and dangerous driving in general. I would love to see more of the work that the RSA is doing with young people in transition year, at the AXA roadshow and going around to things like the ploughing championships where they are using virtual reality.
"We know from the Defence Forces and from nursing and medical courses that virtual reality is having a very positive effect on real-life behaviour.
"We should look at expanding virtual reality scenarios of driving on ice, driving when tired and falling asleep, having an accident while holding a phone, driving under the influence and perhaps make that as a mandatory one-hour finisher to the 11 hours already required by a learner driver.
"It is one thing to do it in schools, but it would be great to do it right before people take their test.
"We have to remind ourselves of the statistics. If hit by a vehicle at 60 km/h, 40% of people will survive.
"If hit at 50 km/h, 70% of people will survive. If hit at 30 km/h, more than 90% of people will survive.
"A driver who hits somebody at 60 km/h will wish for every second afterwards that they had only been driving at 30 km/h.
"People might be frustrated today getting to work doing 60 km/h on a 50 km/h road, but I guarantee that if a child happens to run out in front of them and they are within the speed limit, they will not regret this for the rest of their life."
She has thanked Hayley Coleman and Myles O'Brien, who came to speak at a road safety event in Mayo recently.
"It demonstrated to everybody there the benefit of hearing real-life stories. If this can be incorporated into the learner driver courses and people hear real life-changing stories, it will have real impact.
"Myles O'Brien is a talented chef. He has talked about the fact that he was a novice motorcyclist and had an accident that left him paralysed.
"He is graciously giving up his time to talk to people about his experiences and what he wished he knew then.
"Hayley Coleman is a talented make-up artist who was involved in an accident where her friend passed away and she was left with life-changing injuries.
"Whether it is at the AXA roadshow or wherever, if anybody gets to hear at first hand a life-changing experience, it will impact their driver behaviour; we know that. If that can be rolled out when people are doing their learner driver courses, it would be really beneficial.
"We also definitely need more streamlined funding for lollipop people.
"In my home town of Westport, a school has been without a lollipop person for a long time. We know that is because it is a short-term role for a couple of hours a day but it is a vital role. We should definitely consider streamlining funding across local authorities for lollipop people," she added.