Leaving Cert driving warning to Mayo students

Thousands of Leaving Certificate students in Co Mayo opening their exam results this morning will find the envelope contains a small additional piece of information.

Because inside every one will be a road safety message, warning them of the dangers of taking their elation or frustration with their exam results to their driving.

Noel Gibbons, road safety officer with Mayo County Council, said he decided to include the road safety leaflet because this group of students were difficult to reach with road safety programmes during the year because of exam pressures. "Many of them will be driving to pick up their results and will have friends in the car with them and we know this increases the risk of a crash," he said.

"What is vital is that a young lad driving away from the school with his results doesn't take out his elation while driving," Mr Gibbons said.

The two-page leaflet has a reflective panel in which the student can see their own face with a caption underneath saying: "Next time it could be you".

Mr Gibbons spoke to the principal in each of the 30 second-level schools in the county and all agreed to include the leaflet in the results envelopes. He said he came up with the idea after speaking with police forces in England, some of which use a similar idea.

"The reaction from parents has been very good, and no doubt there'll be more reaction tomorrow. I would see this becoming an annual campaign."

Mr Gibbons said he intends to do something similar for Junior Certificate students but with more of a focus on pedestrian safety and seatbelt use.

The leaflet explains the higher risks faced by 17-to 25- year-old drivers, including that they are five times more likely to cause a death due to speeding than other drivers.

The leaflet says a 17-year-old male is seven times more likely to be involved in a crash than a middle-aged man and that the impact of a crash at 100km/h is equivalent to a car, falling from an 11-storey building.