New regulations will save lives says mother of road traffic victim                 

THE mother of a Newry man who died following a fatal road traffic collision has said new regulations for freshly qualified drivers will work to save lives.

Karl Heaney died as a result of an accident that took place on the A1 dual carriageway in May of 2018. At the time he was just 27 years of age.

  Now his mother Monica, who in the aftermath of her son’s tragic passing  founded the charity The Road Ahead N.I, has welcomed the introduction of tougher road traffic legislation for newly qualified drivers.

 Set to be introduced in October the new regulations would see Northern Ireland becoming the first area in the UK to introduce a graduated driver licencing scheme as well as placing tighhter  restrictions on newly qualified drivers.

  Most prominent of these would be the extension of the restriction period after qualifying from 12 months to 24 months, a minimum of six month’s experience becoming an essential  prerequisite to new drivers being able to sit their tests as well as restrictions on the number of passengers freshly qualified drivers can carry in their vehicle during night time hours.    

Whilst Monica does concede the point that some of the new regulations may be unpopular amongst younger drivers, they are a necessary measure which she and others like her who have lost loved ones on the road have lobbied for.  

These are measures which Monica claims will work to save lives.     

Save Lives

 “This has been called for a long time” said Monica, “I know it is not going to be very popular.”   

“Some young people will find it sad that they will not be able to do certain things but it will definitely save lives.” 

As Monica explains  although younger drivers make up less than a tenth of the total  number of drivers on Northern Ireland’s roads, they account for almost a quarter of all road traffic collisions.

“From a road safety point of view the biggest risk factors are the young people in the age group between the ages of 17 to 25. Only 8% of the driving population in Northern Ireland are in this age group, yet they cause 24% of the collisions.     

“ You have to look at the statistics and say that if we do something about this we will have a reduction in the number of collisions. It seems like it is a no-brainer to look at it and see how we can help young people.   

“They cannot just get into a car after doing their test and be able to drive.  We have to have more restrictions so that they can ease their way in. This is my thinking on it.” 

Whilst the introduction of stricter legislation is a necessity to reduce the number of fatal collisions on our roads, Monica does not want to understate the importance of making it socially unacceptable for younger drivers to flaunt the law.

She stresses the need for the parents of young drivers to emphasise the responsibilities that come with getting behind the wheel of a car at a young age.   

Socially Unacceptable

“I can understand that people will flaunt the law, it is sad that this is what they will do but it is a fact of life. The responsibility is with us,  parents to make sure that  children do not do this.

“We need to make it more socially unacceptable so that people don't flaunt the law. If we can do this, make it that it is not acceptable to behave in this way, maybe we will see a change in attitude.

“Education is also important. People need to understand why these rules are in place and why people are asking for these things. It is not just to penalise and make people's lives miserable, it is to save lives.

“People need to realise that the speed limit is not a target. We have to judge the road. You could have a speed limit at whatever but if the conditions on the road are not acceptable you have to judge this. This is your experience coming into play. It is not a target that people should be hitting. This is down to experience. Younger drivers don't have this development.  It is scientifically proven  that young people up until the age of 25 that this part of the brain is not developed enough. You don't have the ability to assess risk and as you get older you may realise that certain risks are not worth taking.  

“Our government can only do so much. There are the fatal five and if people don't adhere to them, these are the consequences that we have. We can only try and put things in place . If it saves one life I will be happy with this, if it reduces the number. At the end of the day, it is down to human behaviour and people need to accept responsibility for their own actions.”