Local pupils witness stark reality of road collisions

MORE than 100 local pupils gathered at Omagh Fire Station for a sobering demonstration on the devastating consequences of dangerous driving.

The event, held as part of this year’s Road Safety Week, combined hard-hitting statistics with a visceral simulation of a fatal road traffic collision.

Students from from Omagh CBS, Omagh Academy and Omagh High School listened intently as Station Commander Adrian Clarke delivered a powerful presentation addressing the ‘Fatal Five’ causes of road accidents – excessive speed, mobile phone use, failure to wear seat belts, driving under the influence of drink or drugs, and careless driving.

safety

Mr Clarke said, “Hopefully you will all learn a thing or two about the importance of road safety… Today is about promoting good driving, good awareness, and the consequences of poor driving.

“Hopefully you will take something away from it.” Mr Clarke’s presentation covered a number of key messages in regards to responsibility on the
road.

“The key messages are – drive to arrive, there is no need for speed, and let’s all take personal responsibility,” he said.

The presentation further covered the idea of ‘blue eye awareness’, informing those in attendance of what they should do if emergency services are flashing their blue lights behind them on the road on their way to an incident.

A collection of drink-driving awareness videos were shown and, as Mr Clarke concluded his talk, he shared some statistics regarding road traffic collisions in the
North.

“In 2023, 71 people lost their lives in the North due to road traffic collisions – our highest number in eight years,” he explained.

“Every one mph reduction results in a five per-cent reduction of collisions, and evidences shows that more than 95 per-cent of road deaths are due to human error.”

Mr Clarke urged those in attendance to take the road safety
pledge.

Following this, the pupils were taken outside to witness a demonstration of what roles each of the emergency services play when it comes to a collision.

Three pupils, Tom Bell, Ben Dempsey and Poppy Preston, took part in the demonstration, with Tom taking the role as an uninjured driver, Ben as a passenger who had experienced a spinal injury, and Poppy who portrayed the fatal victim of the crash in the back seat.

cut open

As firefighters cut the vehicle open, a police officer demonstrated how the uninjured driver would be dealt with – issuing a breathalyser test and subsequently arresting him for dangerous driving.

Paramedics arrived on the scene and demonstrated how they
would deal with both a serious spinal injury and a deceased passenger.

Speaking with the Tyrone Herald after the demonstration, Tom said, “It was very eerie hearing the sirens approaching the scene.”

Ben said it was a shock to see how realistic the demonstration was and remarked on how scary it would be if it was to really happen.

Meanwhile, Poppy said, “It was horrible hearing the crunching
and banging when the fire brigade were cutting the roof off,” she
said.

“It would be a truly horrific thing to experience in real life.”