A senior Garda has this week called for a ‘culture change’ among schoolchildren, teachers, teenagers and parents on the wearing of high-visibility vests or jackets – and especially during the winter season.
Chief Superintendent, Tom Curley, told the Galway City Tribune said that this one simple measure of pedestrians, cyclists and those waiting for school-buses wearing high-vis clothing, could ‘in one fell swoop’ help to dramatically reduce road deaths and serious injuries.
“I think that it’s probably something we need to begin with at primary school level. We just need to ingrain the culture of wearing this high-vis clothing as a matter of habit among our schoolchildren and hopefully this would continue on through later life,” said Chief Supt. Curley.
He said that any early morning drive through rural areas during the Winter months of darkness reveals the fact that secondary-school pupils waiting for buses simply don’t wear high visibility clothing.
“Maybe it’s not just considered a ‘cool thing’ to do, but as Gardai, we can assure parents and school-goers that the wearing of high-vis clothing would significantly reduce fatalities and serious injury among pedestrians and cyclists,” he said.
He added that anyone driving a mechanically propelled vehicle could attest to the value of high-vis clothing at any time, but especially so during the months of darkness.
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