Transition-year boys in St Eunan's College, Letterkenny, laugh at the suggestion that they could be regarded as potential killers. As the young male drivers of the not-so-distant future, they have been targeted in a pilot programme aimed at teaching them road safety before they ever get behind the wheel of a car.
Research findings produced by the North Western Health Board last week on attitudes among young male drivers in Donegal confirmed that education was badly needed. The incidence of road accidents is higher in the county than the national average, and the survey found that young men were blissfully unaware of their bad reputation.
Three out of four drivers who die on Irish roads are men.
"The overall picture we get is of young men who believe they are better drivers than they actually are," says Mr Kieran Doherty, senior executive officer with the NWHB.
The scheme in St Eunan's, the first of its kind in the State, reflects the multi-agency approach being taken in Donegal to try to reduce the number of accidents. A road safety working group comprises representatives of the health board, the county council and the Garda.
Pupils in St Eunan's will have sessions with driving instructors, insurance companies, health board personnel and gardai, and are not being spared the true horror of road deaths. They have been shown pictures from accident scenes, and staff from the casualty department in Letterkenny General Hospital will give first-hand accounts of their work, treating victims who are mainly young men. In the first 10 months of this year 18 people were killed in road accidents in Donegal. The vast majority were males under 30, and most accidents occurred late at night. Some 5,000 people have been caught speeding on the county's roads so far this year. Speed and alcohol are the two main factors in road accidents generally.
Sgt Brendan Roache, who heads the Garda traffic corps in Donegal, believes getting the message across to young boys before they start driving is essential.
"It's all about their attitude. Young fellows between 18 and 24 think they are invincible, that nothing will happen to them. They don't realise they are the most vulnerable group on the road."
Inexperience is often a major factor, he says. "They think they are better drivers than they are. That is the problem. They are not road-wise and aren't able to cope in an emergency. Some of them are driving high-powered cars, and they're not fit to manage them." The health board survey was carried out among men aged between 17 and 24 in different parts of Donegal. Men in this group make up only 11 per cent of the population, but accounted for 26 per cent of road accident victims admitted to Letterkenny General Hospital.
Some 92 per cent admitted driving "very fast" now and then, yet 94 per cent also thought they were safe drivers. Given that the survey was carried out on a face-to-face basis, it is probably not surprising that while 88 per cent said they had seen other young men driving when over the legal alcohol limit, only 30 per cent admitted having done so themselves.
A third of the men did not know the speed limit on main roads, and only 18 per cent had received any road safety education in school. Less than half had taken formal driving lessons, and most took only two or three before their driving test. Sixty per cent did not have a full licence.
The survey found that those who had taken formal driving lessons were less likely to take risks on the road. Kieran Doherty says the health board believes this should be borne in mind by parents. "I would say to parents that if they are letting their child out on the road, they should ensure that they have had formal instruction."
The risk of being caught has to be higher than the risk of not being caught, but enforcement of the law alone will not work, he says. Committees are to be set up in each of the five electoral areas in Donegal to tackle the issue at a local level. The St Eunan's pilot programme was the brainchild of the deputy principal, Ms Rena O'Herlihy, who says it will be worthwhile even if only one boy is saved from an accident. Some pupils already drive to school in family cars.
The school principal, Father Michael Carney, says the aim of the course is to give the boys a sense of responsibility.
"The majority of them wouldn't be at all aware of the dangers. They are more interested in what they can prove and display behind the wheel of a car. Perhaps you can't always prevent young men from being reckless, but we would be reneging on our duty if we didn't try to make them aware of the dangers," he says. For the 15- to 16-year-old transition-year pupils, owning a car is a major status symbol. The course, most of them believe, will make a difference.
"We were shown pictures of people after crashes and told what happens when you get caught by the guards. So I think it will work," says Michael McLaughlin (16).
But they say it's expected that once you get a car you drive fast.
"There is a lot of pressure on young fellows. If you've friends in the car, they will say `Go faster'," says William Baron (16). "A lot of fellows might even want to get caught, so that they can say they were caught doing 90 miles an hour. People like getting chased by the guards. Nobody thinks about accidents until it's too late."