Reflective blazers for school children
Due to the death of two pupils, a school has launched a road safety scheme to protect its students.
An Enniskillen school lost two teens in a road collision in 2008. Therefore, in an attempt to better protect school-goers they have introduced reflective blazers.
The male and female, both Devenish College pupils, were hit by a car in Florence Court in November 2008.
An inquiry into their deaths revealed that they were wearing dark uniforms when the accident happened on that fatal night.
They were struck by a car as they walked along a country road. A coroner found that the dark uniform was a factor in the deaths of 15 and 14-year-old victims. The female victim's cousin also walked home with them, but was unhurt.
The inquest was told that it was a dark night, and that the pupils were wearing their dark school blazers.
Therefore, in a hope to reduce personal injury and road accident claims, the college has launched a scheme of reflective safety school wear.
Alex Baird, the chairman of the school's board of governors, said all pupils have had an input into the project.
He said: “We have designed a new blazer in consultation with the pupils because it's imperative that the pupils are part of this.
“It would be very easy for us as governors and other people distant from the pupils to decide on the design, but, it may be a strange word to use, but it has to be cool.”
Dark uniforms lead to death
The inquest heard from a forensic scientist who carried out a reconstruction of the incident.
He said that with a dipped headlight a person wearing a dark school uniform could only be seen 18m away. That distance would be covered by a car in just one second at 40 mph.
When he repeated the experiment with a high visibility jacket, the distance increased to more than 100m with dipped headlights, and 200m with full beam lights.
The cousin of the deceased female teenager told the inquest they sometimes used the screens of their mobile phones as a beacon for drivers.
He said some reflective strips given to pupils were “wee things, the sort of thing you'd never wear”.
The girl’s father, told the inquest: “How does anyone drive down that road and not see three children? Three big children, not wee nippers running across the road.”
However, no one has been prosecuted as a result of the accident. The driver of the car was asked if she could have done anything to avoid the accident. I genuinely did not see them,” she responded.
Following their deaths, the Western Education and Library Board conducted a pilot project using reflective materials in school uniforms.
It is unknown if an accident claim will be put forward.
Updated on 10/03/2010