Road carnage single biggest issue for young people - Parsley

9.37.38am GMT Wed 21st Dec 2005

Young Alliance Chair, Cllr Ian James Parsley, has said that people must act responsibly to end the road carnage, describing the problem as the single biggest issue young people face today.

Cllr Parsley stated: "The fact is simple: road crashes are the single biggest killer of young men in Europe today. So for young people, road safety must be made the number one priority, particularly at this time of year.

"In the past 72 hours five more young lives have been taken from us on Northern Ireland's roads. Five more young people have been stolen from their families. Five more communities are ravaged by grief.

"Irresponsibility on our roads, combined with unacceptably modest road safety targets set by the authorities, is depriving us of lives full of hope. This is not startling rhetoric, it is the hard, cold truth.

"People who step behind the wheel after so much as one drink, or who exceed the speed limit on country roads, or who pass when not 100% certain they have the room to do so, are all potential killers. That message has to be rammed home - by advertising, by stiff penalties, and perhaps most importantly by peer pressure following on from education projects.

"I have no doubt that education programmes in schools and youth centres about drugs, or alcohol abuse, or crime are very worthy. But let me repeat: the single biggest issue facing school and university leavers is road safety. The single most likely place for a young man to lose his life is a road. The single prime issue for us as a society educating the next generation is to ram home the road safety message to each and every individual out there. So the biggest priority for education projects and for community funding must be road safety.

"Contrary to popular misconception, the majority of young people are in fact among the best and safest on the road. But the ones who are bad are truly awful, and it only takes one. The issue is as stark as that."

ENDS