Ballinrobe father calls for road users to slow down

Ciara Galvin

A FATHER who lost his son in a car accident eleven years ago has urged road users to obey the rules of the road.
Speaking eleven years on from losing his son Aaron in a road accident, on November 8, 2006, Dominic Morley is urging drivers to belt up and slow down and for cyclists and pedestrians to ‘light up’ and respect others on the road.
Aaron lost his life, along with his cousin Patrick Morley and friend Jonathan Donovan, in a head-on collision outside Ballinrobe. They were 20, 24 and 21 at the time.
“To find your child dead after a road crash is so painful, words cannot say. To see the undertaker take the body in a box is a nightmare,” said Mr Morley.Coming up to the Christmas period, Mr Morley hopes that all road users obey the rules of the road.
“You see people on the roads daily doing silly things, drivers, walkers and cyclists and it reminds you of how easy you could cause an accident and kill someone, or be killed,” said Mr Morley, adding that if his message to slow down resonates with just one person it will be worth it.
Asked if it ever gets easier dealing with the loss of a loved one, Mr Morley said it does not, and every day is the same whether it is around his son’s anniversary or not.
“Whether it is November 8 or a summer’s day, it’s the same.”
Eleven people have lost their lives on Mayo roads so far this year and globally, road-traffic accidents kill approximately 1.2 million people every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more.