Pedestrians urged to be cautious on the roads

“Having received a number of calls this week reporting near misses in Lisburn I urge people to consider their personal safety when crossing or walking along the districts roads during the winter months,” he said.

“I call on all forms of community organisations, not just schools, to educate young people about the danger of irresponsible behaviour while crossing the road and remind them that their full attention should be on the road and never split to read a text or change a song on their ipod.

“I am aware that many schools with the help of DOE Road safety education officers have in place road safety education curriculum and I would like to see more funding being made available to assist schools and perhaps provide reflective arm bands and stickers to pupils,” he continued.

“I advise that pedestrians should wear a reflective coat, arm band or even place a reflective sticker on a back pack to maximize the chances of a driver seeing you. The blame of a collision does not always lie with the driver and I ask all those using the road to share an equal responsibility in making every ones journey as safe as possible.”