WATCH: Offaly children's message to motorists 'Phone down, safe driving'

PRIMARY school pupils in Offaly have recorded a fantastic jingle which will help in the battle against motorists who use mobile phones while driving.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris today joined schoolchildren at Scoil Mhuire and Scoil Bhríde in Tullamore to launch a new road safety campaign with mobile phones at its centre.

Tullamore Rotary Club spearheaded the initiative and its president, Paddy Dunican, said a number of different messages were considered with the help of Dearbhla O'Sullivan, vice principal, Scoil Mhuire, before the children settled on a simple, clear slogan: “Phone down, safe driving”.

“We have to thank you for coming up with such a clear message which encapsulates and encompasses all of our safety messages in just four words, phone down, safe driving,” said Mr Dunican.

“Today is just the launch, but the job now starts today. We now want you to work and inspire your grown-ups and all the people around you to convince them to put their phones down while driving. Your message is so important and can have such an influence on safe driving on the roads.

“We have been overwhelmed in the Rotary Club by the huge support we have received for this campaign.

“Today the children of Tullamore are stepping up and leading the way in developing this great new message”.

Mr Dunican added: “When we looked at international research, the findings were frightening. Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk and of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity”.

Drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in a collision and almost 20% of motorists say they write messages or emails on a mobile often or very often.

Garda Commissioner Harris said: “Last year, An Garda Síochána issued over 19,000 fines for people using their mobile phone while driving. That is far, far too many. And just with all other efforts to increase the safety of our roads, they will only be a success if we all work together. Gardaí, drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. It can often be forgotten, but children play an important role in road safety, and initiatives like this in Tullamore today work to highlight this very important issue”.

The Commissioner welcomed the safety campaign from the Rotary Club and the primary schools in Tullamore. “Distracted driving due to handheld mobile device usage is one of the dangerous behaviours that leads to road traffic collisions. Recent data from the World Health Organisation indicates that drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in a collision.”

Commissioner Harris added: “The local school children are an influential voice in this campaign and can bring the message home to parents.”

Trauma consultant Professor Eoin Sheehan said: “Given the devastating impact of accidents on lives of so many, and the trauma for families, we need to look at every possible opportunity to minimise mobile distractions.”

Current research coming out of the US is stark, added Professor Sheehan. “Distracted driving significantly increases the chance of crashing. Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) research has uncovered two key insights on this front. The first is that drivers who crash are twice as likely to interact with their phone the minute before the crash. The second finding is that of all the drivers who crash, 34% interacted with their phones within the minute before the crash.

“Technology already exists that could prevent many of those crashes and save lives. Cell phone blocking apps and devices can help drivers stay focused on driving. They prevent drivers from making or accepting calls, texting or accessing the internet. We definitely need to look at all the options. Today’s mobile phones are in essence computers, so we really need to put a halt to the distraction they are causing.”

A past pupil of Scoil Mhuire and Scoil Bhride, Chasing Abbey star Ronan Bell, also addressed the launch.

He spoke of the importance of safe driving and noted that he and his fellow band members spend a lot of time on the road: “We all hear on the news about so many accidents happening and it's always tragic and sad so it's important to try to prevent these things from happening.”