Limerick students hear how young people are 'disproportionately at risk' on Irish roads
Transition and fifth year students from across Limerick were in attendance at AXA’s Roadsafe Roadshow at Limerick’s University Concert Hall
THE ROADSAFE Roadshow, which is spearheaded by AXA and supported by Limerick City and County Council and An Garda Síochána, aims to highlight risks that young drivers face on Irish roads.
1,300 students were in attendance at the show, which consisted of a re-enactment of a night out ending in tragedy, as well as first hand personal accounts from survivors of road traffic collisions and first responders.
The initiative aims to educate young people on road safety, specifically those between 16 and 25 who are deemed “disproportionately at risk” on Irish roads.
Data collected by AXA has highlighted how young people in Limerick aged 16 to 25 accounted for the largest share of fatalities and serious injuries between 2022 and 2025.
According to statistics by An Garda Síochana and Limerick City and County Council, 11 people have lost their lives on Limerick roads so far this year, matching the total amount of road deaths recorded in the county throughout all of 2025.
Speaking to Limerick Live, Mick Comerford, retail direct director at AXA explained how “too many people are losing their lives with the highest proportion being males under the age of 25”.
Mr Comerford explained how it is crucial to target that cohort before they begin their driving journey and educate them on the consequences of dangerous driving.
“We will never ever give our children anything as dangerous as a car,” he stated.
The retail manager emphasised how it isn’t just about those behind the wheel but also the communities, families and first responders who have to deal with the consequences: “This is something that has consequences far more reaching than the people in the vehicle and it is all about getting that message out.”
Garda Superintendent Michael Fleming emphasised how the AXA Roadsafe Roadshow is “critically important in sharing the road safety message to the students of today, who truly are the drivers of tomorrow”.
“It’s really about embedding that image of consequences for the drivers of the future,” reiterated Superintendent Fleming.
Seán O'Leary, former UL student and All-Ireland winner, told the concert hall of his experience of surviving a head-on collision in Abbeyfeale in 2021, at the age of 22.
He described his extensive injuries and the months he spent in a wheelchair before learning to walk again.
Mr O’Leary explained to Limerick Live that he “wanted to come and tell the young people how nobody is immune to this happening to them”.
He noted how he himself was sitting in the seats of these students 10 years ago, watching the AXA Roadsafe Roadshow, and never imagined he would be on the stage sharing his own experience of being a victim of a road traffic accident.
Laura Connolly also recounted her experience of being involved in a tragic head-on collision in 2009.
The collision, which was at the hands of a drunk driver, claimed the lives of her boyfriend Brendan and their friend Lee.
Whilst Laura and her friend Kate survived the collision, she described the emotional scars she continues to have.
She told the students how “the consequences of someone else's decision is something I live with forever”.
“I can’t change what happened, but I can stand here and tell you a car is not a toy, the road is not a racetrack… please don’t let one decision on an ordinary night become the thing that defines the rest of your life,” she concluded.
The show was followed by a live re-enactment of the aftermath and rescue at the scene of a collision, carried out by the emergency services.