A specially designed vehicle is being used in safety demonstrations to help students understand a car's key components, writes Ali Bracken
A safety demonstration involving a stripped-down motor car designed to increase people's awareness of its working parts has visited students in some 60 schools around Ireland.
The demonstration aims to instil in the minds of youngsters the limitations and frailties of a motor vehicle and to dispel the feeling of "invincibility" behind the wheel.
Mechanic Michael O'Gorman of O'Gorman Motors, Newport, Co Tipperary invented the MOG car, which has been modified to show all working parts through the removal of panels.
O'Gorman, a mechanic for more than 30 years, says he is appalled at the state of disrepair of many vehicles he has come across. He says people have no idea whatsoever of what they are driving.
"I feel that driver reliance on car parts is far too high. This state of blissful ignorance is causing far too many fatalities," he says.
The MOG car safety demonstration is a unique practical training programme that reveals all the key components of a car, according to demonstration co-ordinator Michael Gleeson.
"The objective of the programme is to show would-be drivers the practical function of car components, particularly in regard to safety," he says.
In addition to schools, the demonstration has visited youth reach centres, community training workshops and Traveller training centres. O'Gorman has put his patented invention forward to the Department of Transport to be considered as part of driver training in the Government initiated graduated licensing system.
"We think if this demonstration visited every transition year in the country, a lot of lives would be saved on our roads," Gleeson says.
The 90-minute structured demonstration involves students sitting in the car to better understand its practicalities. Various crash scenarios are explained in detail.
"A car driven by an unbelted driver driven at 55mph hits a solid object. At 0.5 seconds, the driver is impaled on the steering column. The blood rushes into his lungs. At 0.6 seconds, the driver's feet are ripped out of tightly laced shoes.
"The brake pedal snaps off. The car frame buckles in the middle. The driver's head smashes into the windscreen.
"At 0.8 seconds the seat striking the driver does not even bother him because he is already dead," participants are told.
The importance of the adjustment of the head restraint to avoid serious neck injury in a crash is another safety measure examined. "It's commonly referred to as a head rest. It is not for resting your head and should be adjusted at eye level," Gleeson explains.
Proper positioning of the safety belt, dash-board symbols and engine management lights are examined in the demonstration, among other things. How to identify worn tyre tread depth and worn brakes are also shown.
The response to the demonstration has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Gleeson. He believes trying to educate secondary school pupils on the workings of the car should be high on the Government's agenda, considering the current carnage on the State's roads.