The Road Safety Authority has announced the winners of their annual Leading Light Awards, with a number of local entries succeeding in their category.
The Road Safety Authority ‘Gertie Shields Supreme Award’ has gone to Clodagh and Méabh White of Roscommon.
The mother and daughter were chosen as overall winners for their tireless awareness efforts and contribution to road safety.
Clodagh and Méabh were involved in a car collision in 2016, with both suffering serious injuries.
Their car was propelled at speed into a wall following a crash with a larger vehicle.
Méabh’s little brother Rian, who was also in the car, escaped uninjured.
Rian was in a rear facing child seat at the time, which had been inspected and adjusted by the RSA just days earlier, which is believed to have saved his life.
Clodagh and Méabh have been raising awareness for road safety since their experience and have also been advocates of child seat safety.
They were also the recipients of the Road Safety Champion Award on the night, presented to them by Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers at the RDS.
Other local award recipients included Robe Training Ltd in the CPC Training Organisation category.
The Ballinrobe based company had been providing Driver CPC training to professional bus and truck drivers in the west of Ireland and beyond since 2018.
Founder and Managing Director Noel Finlay, along with trainers Patrick Finlay and David McMorrow have an in depth knowledge of the rules and regulations to provide the highest level of training for the transport industry.
The Gay Byrne Media Award went to Caltra native and journalist Sally-Ann Barrett.
She led a two part series on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland focusing on road behavior in Craughwell Co. Galway and Swinford Co. Mayo.
This came following both counties experiencing substantial increases in road fatalities.
