Cards urge drivers to avoid Valentine’s Day massacre
That’s the Valentine’s Day message for the playboys of the western world.
Mayo County Council is taking road safety to heart by sending Valentine’s cards to young male drivers.
The council is delivering 1,000 cards with a chilling message to men aged between 16 and 25 urging them to keep their girlfriends safe by driving carefully.
When the young person opens it, he will find a message inside saying: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill you. I was driving too fast.”
“Young drivers are often vulnerable to peer pressure and risk-taking,” said Road Safety Officer Noel Gibbons, explaining the thinking behind the campaign.
“It is hoped it will drive home the message that more young females die as passengers than as drivers. They often become victims while being driven by their boyfriends.”
The card will be distributed through Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. The Castlebar campus has students from all over the country, travelling primarily by car to and from home.
Alan Judge, students union president at GMIT Castlebar, said that the campaign could help save lives.
“Our students have the ability to spread this simple message not only in Mayo but also across the country and to their own brothers, sisters, sons and daughters – slow down, take care and be aware of others on the road,” he said.
Despite a 14% national average reduction in road fatalities, the number of those killed on Co Mayo roads has stayed the same for the past three years.
