A road safety initiative led by University of Limerick and An Garda Síochána has seen third-level students highlight the deadly consequences of speeding.
More than 1,000 students across Ireland engaged in a potentially lifesaving project as part of the ESB-sponsored Road Safety Reimagined initiative, highlighting the lifelong and potentially devastating impact of speeding on our roads.
Now in its fourth year, and led by UL’s Dr Christina O’Connor and Sergeant Tony Miniter of An Garda Síochána’s Limerick Road Policing Division, Road Safety Reimagined seeks to harness the collective power of students by encouraging them to submit marketing campaigns in promotion of road safety.
This year’s event saw top submissions from more than 1,000 students from eight participating institutions: UL, Maynooth University, University College Cork (UCC), South East Technological University (SETU), Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Dublin City University (DCU), and Moyross Youth Academy.
With engaging submissions centring upon the power of the passenger to speak up against speeding and how fatalities have a ripple effect across entire communities, it was a poignant concept developed around childhood grief that claimed the overall winning prize.
Produced by SETU students Harry Watkins, Patryk Pawlak, Stephen Sokiri, Andrei Bors, and Kasey Mulhearne, the poster was designed to resemble a crumpled piece of paper featuring a young child’s scrawling handwriting. Artfully conceived of as a letter to their deceased sibling, the words in red crayon read: ‘Dear brother, it’s been three years since the crash. I miss you.’
Paul Stapleton, Executive Director, ESB and Catharina Gunne, Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing and Community Engagement presented awards for the top entries from each participating institution as well as the winners of the overall prize and special categories. Acting UL President Professor Shane Kilcommins was also in attendance.
Dr Christina O’Connor, Associate Professor in Marketing at UL’s Kemmy Business School, applauded the work of this year’s students.
“This event is student centred, with the voice of young people from seven Irish universities and Moyross Youth Academy presented in visual art form through the Showcase Posters. It is empowering to see our young people work with An Garda Síochána to tackle the dangers of speeding on our roads through creative and outside the box thinking,” said Dr O’Connor.
Sergeant Tony Miniter described this year’s winning submission as “road safety advertising at its best”.
“An Garda Síochána, in partnership with University of Limerick and proudly supported by ESB, are doing all we can to tackle the problem of speeding. The standard of this year’s posters was at an all-time high, so well done to all the students who participated,” said Sergeant Miniter.
“The winning poster had such a strong emotional impact on me and resonated with my own experience of seeing the loss that is experienced by families when a loved one gets killed on our roads. Speeding is a major factor in far too many of these fatalities. The winning poster is road safety advertising at its very best.”
Each year, a highlight of Road Safety Reimagined is the presentation of the Oisín Crotty Road Safety Inspiration Award, sponsored by ESB. This year’s award was presented to Sylvia and Eamon Mooney, who tragically lost their 17-year-old son Cian in a car incident in 2022. Following their devastating loss, the Mooneys, from Co. Kilkenny, have worked tirelessly to raise awareness on the dangers of speeding.
Paul Stapleton, Executive Director, ESB, said: “At ESB, we recognise the impact that safe roads and streets have on the safety, health and well-being of our employees and of the communities we serve throughout Ireland.
“Now in our third year of sponsorship of the Road Safety Reimagined initiative, we appreciate the value that each of the participating students has brought to their projects. Their in-depth consideration of this year’s theme of driver speeding and how the problem could be addressed across different demographics has produced creative and impactful communications campaigns.
“We are proud to present the Oisín Crotty Road Safety Inspiration Award, which this year acknowledges the road safety advocacy work of Sylvia and Eamon Mooney.”