Shock tactics get message across

The two-man Garda Road Safety Unit pulls no punches as it goes about its work. Kilian Doyle sat in on one of its graphic sessions

"The blood and guts you can get used to, eventually. It's that walk up the driveway to tell a parent their child is dead, that you can never prepare for." - the words of Garda Jim Maguire, one half of the Garda Road Safety Unit alongside Sergeant Jim McAllister.

The unit was established four years ago to highlight the need for greater safety among all road users. This they are trying to do through their It Won't Happen To Me roadshow, which they bring to schools, businesses and community groups in the Dublin area.

Motors attended their presentation last week in the ESB Networks depot in Tallaght, held as part of the company's efforts to increase safety. The organisation with over 3,000 vehicles covering 40 million miles a year.

At the outset, Maguire warns the audience that much of what they will see is "very graphic". Over the next hour, they are shown dozens of videos of real and simulated collisions as well as actual footage from Garda cars of the most bizarre and dangerous behaviour imaginable.

It's fairly powerful stuff, made all the more so by the fact these motorists are acting like lunatics in recognisable locations such as the Red Cow roundabout. It makes for far more realistic viewing than US police chase shows on television.

Many watching are obviously upset, wincing and shuffling uncomfortably in their seats. Gasps of disbelief occasionally break the silence.

At one stage, Maguire holds up a photo of what was evidently once a beautiful young woman. Her face is completely lacerated from injuries received when she flew through the windscreen of a car. She wasn't wearing her seat belt.

Several in the room recoil in horror. "If you think that's bad, she looks a million times worse now that the scars are all big welts. She's destroyed."

This photo, says Maguire, elicits the greatest response in schools. "It's like those anti-smoking ads, the ones that show the ruined lungs. People respond if they can actually see the effects of their behaviour."

Perhaps the most emotive element of the presentation is an interview with a Meath woman whose 17-year-old daughter, Emma, was killed one St Valentine's Day, on the eve of her mock Leaving Cert exams.

Described by her mother as a beautiful, bubbly girl full of joy, she "made the wrong decision" on a night out with her friends and got into a car with a youth known for being - and these words are spat through clenched teeth - a "show-off".

He flipped his car while doing 90 mph around a bend. Emma was thrown from the car. Half of her face was ripped off when she hit the road and she died 20 minutes later.

Her distraught mother tells the camera that the following St Valentine's Day, Emma got more flowers than ever before, "except they were all on her grave."

A man says his daughter had been friendly with Emma. He is visibly shaken. One imagines he feels it could so easily have been his own child.

It's not all gore and horror, however. Proceedings also include a discussion on the causes of crashes and advice on how to guard oneself against being involved. It's basic common sense, such as avoiding alcohol, reducing speed and not driving while tired. Unfortunately, it's advice that's not always heeded, the two gardai note ruefully.

McAllister is loath to use the term "accident" when discussing crashes, because it implies that the incident was somehow unavoidable. The truth is that over 95 per cent of all crashes are caused by driver error.

He says he is not naïve enough to believe there will ever be a zero death rate on the roads, but does hope that showing people that a few minor alterations to their driving, whether in terms of speed or observation, can significantly reduce their chances of being involved in an "accident".

Ideally they'd like to be able to cover more ground, but with such a small staff, they are limited in what they can achieve.

At the end of the presentation, the reaction is overwhelmingly positive. "It certainly was eye-opening," says Bob Gibbs, chairman of the ESB Networks customer supply safety committee. "It really showed how the consequences of your actions are so stark."

Liam Ring, safety services manager with ESB, said the course should become part of the national school curriculum. After mining and quarrying, the most dangerous occupation you can have is driving, he says.

"If your kids said they wanted to mine or quarry when they leave school, you'd try to dissuade them," says Ring. "But nobody bats an eyelid when driving is mentioned. People need to know what they're letting themselves in for."

The most gratifying part of the job, says Maguire, is speaking to transition year students and feeling they've made a difference.

"The days of handing out leaflets in the hope of getting through to these kids are gone," he says. "We need shock tactics to get the message across." ·

Any school, club or other organisation which would like the Road Safety Unit to visit them should contact the Garda Traffic Division at Dublin Castle on 01.6669829