There was ‘extremely positive’ feedback from over 1,600 students who attended a road safety demonstration at 51ɫ.
UL hosted the Road Safety Authority (RSA) Interactive Shuttle Bus as part of a collaboration between Healthy UL and Health and Safety, which was supported by the student unions and Human Resources at the University.
Over 1,600 students attended the event and feedback from students and staff that attended was overwhelmingly positive. It was also attended by members of the local Community Gardai unit.
Dr Eva Devaney of Healthy UL said: “With the current national accommodation crisis, students are on the roads more often, and we are all aware of this year’s accident statistics. Road safety is a key concern for Healthy UL. We were happy to host the RSA Interactive Shuttle Bus, and the feedback from students was extremely positive.
“The RSA Road Safety Education team was on-site all day and we thank them for their dedication,” added Dr Devaney.
The Shuttle Bus provided interactive educational opportunities and interactive activities, including practicing driving and hazard perception skills on car, motorbike or bicycle state-of-the-art simulators and VR experiences, experiencing first-hand the dangers of driving and texting and driver fatigue, trying the brake reaction timer to see how driving environments and speed affect your braking distances and learning about tyre safety.
Rob Hickey, Health and Safety Officer at UL, said: “This event tied into the national road safety awareness month and aligns with our priorities. We are very happy to see the very positive response from our campus community.”
The UL Post-graduate Students Union echoed the response, praising the Road Safety event as a “valuable initiative, combining fun and engagement to teach students about road safety and raise awareness. We were thrilled with the high level of participation, which encouraged students to get involved, as road safety impacts all of us in our daily lives”.