Liz O’Donnell, Chairperson of the RSA, presenting a ‘Leading Lights in Safety Award’ to Aisha McAuliffe and Mark Lynes of Colaiste Treasa Secondary School, Kanturk.
Students Aisha McAuliffe and Mark Lynes from Coláiste Treasa Secondary School, Kanturk, were among the winners at this year’s Road Safety Authority (RSA) ‘Leading Lights in Road Safety’ Awards. Aisha and Mark were presented with the Education Award in the secondary school category for their project, ‘Take Care! Be Internationally Road Aware.’ The idea for the project came from a trip to the United States by Aisha who noticed the different road markings and speed limits there, and came to the conclusion that this must cause confusion for tourists visiting Ireland. In May 2015, Aisha and Mark, along with their teacher Derry Donovan, approached 18 car rental companies to gather data on what information these companies were providing to tourists and to find out what issues tourists face on Irish roads. From extensive research, the team produced a report, the findings of which were featured in an article in the Irish Examiner. Since then both Aisha and Mark interned with car rental company, Europcar, and over the summer designed a blog and posted tips and advice for anyone travelling to Ireland.
The awards ceremony was hosted at Farmleigh House where 37 individuals and organisations were honoured for their com-mitment and dedication to road safety. MC for the day was RTÉ News Correspondent Teresa Mannion, with awards presented in categories, including media, education, business, emergency services and public sector.
Ms Moyagh Murdock, Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority said: “Every year, we have the privilege of being able to recognise the ‘unsung heroes’ of road safety at the Leading Lights in Road Safety Awards. We at the RSA can’t tackle road safety alone, so we rely on individuals, organisations and communities to act as ambassadors and advocates for road safety. What astounds me every year is the number of people – right around the country – who are taking personal responsibility for finding creative and workable solutions to the problems on our roads.
Congratulations to every-one who received an award today and on behalf of everyone who uses the roads, thank you for your commitment and dedication to making them a safer place.”
Ms Liz O’Donnell, Chairperson of the RSA presented the awards, saying: “Every year, this special event gives us an opportunity to honour the people who are making a real difference in road safety. This year, the judging panel had a very difficult decision to make, as the quality of nomin-ations and entries was extremely high. Once again, I am proud to be here today to present these awards to such extraordinary individ-uals and organisations. I thank you for the work that you do, every day, and for the example you set us all in keeping our roads free from death and injury.”