Lewsley: Road strategies must target the young

In the wake of a serious road accident which killed two young men last night, there has been calls for road safety strategies to concentrate efforts on young drivers.

Assembly member Patricia Lewsley, vice-chair of the Environment Committee, said that there is a need to ensure that there is a "sustained road safety campaign aimed at young people". She said that she would put this proposal to the Environment Minister Dermott Nesbitt when she meets him next week.

Ms Lewsley also appealed to motorists to take care on the roads after the latest incident in south Belfast which left two people dead and seriously injured another.

“Over the summer months a number of young people have tragically lost their lives on our roads. I would appeal to all road users to take care, especially over the coming bank holiday weekend, when more people are on the roads," she said.

Current strategies on road safety have not significantly reduced what Mr Nesbitt described as an "unacceptable" deaths tally, and so far this year there have been 88 people killed on the roads, compared to 87 at the same point last year. The total number of road deaths for 2001 was 148.

Earlier today, Mr Nesbitt urged the Roads Safety Council to further develop links with the community in a bid to reduce the number of deaths on Northern Ireland's roads. He said that "much more needed to be done" to reverse the problem.

The Minister then called on the agency to extend the "positive involvement" volunteers can make to the promotion of road safety. Mr Nesbitt made his comments at the official opening of Nella House, the new premises of the Road Safety Council at Dargan Crescent, Belfast.

Mr Nesbitt said: “Government and its agencies have an important part to play in reducing road casualties, but this task also requires the positive involvement of the wider community as road users. Road safety volunteers are therefore a vital link between the statutory agencies and the local community.”

The Minister continued: “Despite the achievements of recent years in reducing the unacceptable level of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, much more remains to be done."

(KmcA)