Mags GarganA ‘Blessing of the Roads’ ceremony will be incorporated into Easter Sunday ceremonies for many Co. Mayo parishes next weekend, with priests supporting an awareness campaign to reduce road deaths.
The campaign from the Road Safety Office of Mayo County Council, supported by both local Catholic and Church of Ireland leaders, will see clerics blessing the local roads on Easter Sunday and making an appeal at Easter services for people to use roads safely.
The campaign was organised by Noel Gibbons, Road Safety Officer of Mayo County Council, who told The Irish Catholic that making an appeal through the churches is a good way to spread a safety message through communities.
“It is more personal. It is a good way to get the discussion going and people talk about it later at home,” he said. “Road accidents affect so many people and our main aim is to get people to slow down and to wear their safety belts, especially rear seat passengers. Forty two per cent of those who died in road accidents last year were not wearing a safety belt.”
In 2014 196 people lost their lives on the roads. This was the second consecutive rise since 162 deaths, a record low, was recorded in 2012.