On Friday's 'Déise Today', Maria was talking to Kieran Kennedy who is a Waterford city-based driving instructor. He was reacting to new figures released by the Road Safety Authority showing an "alarming" 30% rise in road deaths this year so far.
Maria asked Kieran about did he think TV road safety ads are having any effect on us anymore? Or if we're dissociating them from real life?
Kieran said that when he sees these ads, he just wants to "turn them off" and that most people "simply don't want to watch it, so they won't". He says that people simply aren't educated enough on dangerous driving and more needs to be done in schools with children at a young age to help stop this problem.
He said, in his view, the theory test was pointless, a "money racket", as he described it. Kieran feels that because it is simply "ticking boxes", most young people don't actually understand the dangers of driving.
Finally, Kieran Kennedy said that young people also feel that they are "invincible" once they are behind the wheel of a car. He says that even the highest tech cars will only marginally save you compared to an average car but young people are not able to comprehend that they are in danger.
If you want to listen to the full conversation click here!
https://soundcloud.com/wlrfmwaterford/deise-today-8th-march-30-increase-of-road-deaths-so-far-this-year?in=wlrfmwaterford/sets/deise-today-2019
If you want to listen to the full version of the show, meanwhile, click here!
https://soundcloud.com/wlrfmwaterford/deise-today-friday-8th-march-2019
