Posted online: Feb 18th, 2010

By Sinéad Flanagan
Editor

A LOCAL schoolgirl was commended for her efforts recently on road safety in a competition run by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
Zoe Tobin from Primrose Hill National School in Celbridge received an award in the ‘Hi-Glo Silver’ competition by the RSA. Zoe, who was accompanied by her teacher Marie Costello, was presented with her award by Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD at the annual RSA ‘Seatbelt Sheriff’ and ‘Hi-Glo Silver’ prize-giving ceremony.
Over 265 schoolchildren and their teachers from ten primary schools attended the ceremony at Dublin Castle to receive awards for their projects on road safety.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister Dempsey said: “I am delighted to be here today to present these awards to children whose creativity and imagination greatly helps us with our job of educating people on how to behave safely on the roads. And last year, more and more people paid attention to our message and changed their behaviour as a result.”
The competition, which has been running since 2004, encourages primary school children to get involved in saving lives on the road by educating them on the importance of buckling up and wearing high visibility clothing. Children in first class become ‘Seatbelt Sheriffs’ by taking a pledge to wear their seatbelts and making sure that everyone else in the car is buckled up too. Once they become ‘Seatbelt Sheriffs’, they can flash their sheriff’s badge so that everyone they’re travelling with knows that they must wear their seatbelts.