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<\/p>\nThe Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and German tyre manufacturer, Continental have joined forces to produce a new road safety awareness video highlighting the importance of \u2018Sharing the Road\u2019 for all road users.<\/p>\n
The video, which features a selection of FAI staff, members and players representing the diverse spectrum of road users, is linked to Continental Tyres\u2019 Vision Zero\u2019 campaign which aims to eliminate collisions and fatalities on the road through innovative tyre and automotive technologies.<\/p>\n
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The FAI group that appears in the video includes:
\nPearl Slattery, player with Shelbourne FC in the Continental Tyres Women\u2019s National League \u2013 who represented the point of view of pedestrians
\nJohn Ward, the FAI\u2019s head of referees who is an avid and committed cyclist
\nEmer Kane, FAI member and motorcyclist who loves her Ducati 900
\nMark Scanlon, an FAI Development Officer who travels around the country promoting the game from grass roots upwards \u2013 represented the views of car drivers<\/p>\n
Stephen Egan, FAI staff member who drives an FAI-branded Ford Transit for the Association \u2013 representing van and small lorry drivers
\nLucky Singh, a bus driver from an Irish coach company that shuttles fans and players to and from matches.
\nAs part of its \u2018Sharing the Road\u2019 information campaign, Continental Tyres hosted a moderated discussion on the topic of road safety \u2013 led by Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland \u2013 at FAI headquarters in Abbotstown.<\/p>\n
The discussion focused on best practice and examples of \u2018Sharing the Road\u2019 among the different and sometimes competing road users, with a lack of communication identified by the group as their number one \u2018pet peeve\u2019. Other issues included drivers who do not use their indicators and pedestrians and cyclists who do not check both ways before crossing the road.
\nJohn (the motorist) and Lucky (bus driver) highlighted another common problem on Irish roads with both pedestrians and cyclists wearing earphones, sometimes rendering them oblivious to their surroundings and other road users. Drivers on mobile phones also emerged as a major talking point.<\/p>\n
Pearl Slattery, the captain of Shelbourne Ladies FC who competes in the Continental Tyres Women\u2019s National League, said: \u201cIt was a great opportunity to give my own insight on what sharing the road feels like as a pedestrian and to listen to other road users\u2019 thoughts on our communication on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that we\u2019re all on the same page in terms of communication and awareness being key to good road user behaviour, similar to on pitch practice, but there is clear dissatisfaction and annoyance about certain bad habits and issues that needs to be addressed.\u201d Slattery added.<\/p>\n
The overall consensus among the volunteers was that their heroes are the bus drivers. Due to their extra training and professionalism on the road, bus drivers have gained a respect that other transportation areas are working to achieve.<\/p>\n
Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres said: \u201cWe partnered with the FAI, whose members, staff and supporters clock up innumerable kilometres each year as they support football at every level across the country, and indeed in international events and championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing our research in 2017, it was really interesting to hear this group reaffirm our findings that better communication between road users can lead to greater road safety. At Continental, we\u2019re committed to using our many safety features to reduce accidents and fatalities, but human behaviour and error is something we need to focus on to really make this a reality.\u201d Dennigan added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to promote road safety awareness with our FAI partners to help the membership understand road safety better. Next month, we\u2019ll be delighted to welcome many managers, players and staff to our Vision Zero Live event at Mondello Race Circuit where participants will get the chance to get behind the wheel for a range of tyre safety and automotive technology demonstrations.\u201d Dennigan concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and German tyre manufacturer, Continental have joined forces to produce a new road safety awareness video highlighting the importance of \u2018Sharing the Road\u2019 for all road users. The video, which features a selection of FAI staff, members and players representing the diverse spectrum of road users, is linked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":20665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,654,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-continental","category-irish-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n