Teen Times:Recently, I sat beside all my friends as we listened to a story of a young man who went out at the weekend, as most young people do. The difference between us and this boy was that he didn't go back to school on Monday. By that stage, he couldn't move his legs to walk.

His story is what I will remember most from the Roadsafe Roadshow, an important initiative aimed at diminishing the number of deaths on our roads.

I don't think any of us really knew the impact this trip would make on us, but it made me wonder how many of my friends here today would still be here in a couple of years' time.

Being from Co Donegal, I am familiar with the tragedy of young deaths on our roads. Co Donegal is highlighted as a blackspot for road accidents.

At the weekend, when my mother switches on the radio, someone has usually been killed in an accident in Co Donegal. We may not know who they are, but we are sure to know someone who does.

As I am at the age where my friends are doing driving tests and purchasing their first cars, I am more conscious that one day I might be hearing one of their names announced on the radio. It's so heart-breaking that young people will not listen to the continuous warnings about speeding and drink driving. The message is not being absorbed - which is why so many are being killed.

The show had focused on a young boy. He was 17 years old, had only just passed his driving test and received his first car, and was now ready to cruise the roads.

Like many boys his age, he was trying to impress a girl he had met. He drove at an excessive speed, which led to him becoming disabled, and his new girlfriend was killed.

The Roadsafe Roadshow featured a series of accounts witnessed by a garda, a doctor, a fire fighter, a liaison officer and a victim.

Each one told their story from a professional perspective, but also with an underlying personal view.

Many of the hundreds of students in the audience may not have been paying attention to the stage characters, but when a young man entered the stage in his wheelchair, the reality hit hard about speeding.

I was in the front row and I am not ashamed to say that I cried when I saw him. He told us how his life had been ruined because he was a passenger in a speeding car.

At the end of the roadshow, the words "It could be you" flashed across the screen. I was numb as I left and I wasn't the only one. I hope that this day made an impact and at least saved a few lives for the future.

This campaign is a brilliant idea and I hope that it really does make young people stop and think before they get behind the wheel.

Danielle Doherty (17) is a student at Moville Community College, Co Donegal

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