Waterford Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh has criticised the Road Safety Authority (RSA) for a video they posted on social media.
On Monday, August 19, the RSA posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) which depicts a young man relying on his friends for a lift after losing his driver’s license.
The video shows the man being physically carried from place to place by others – a play on the use of the word ‘lift’ in the context of carpooling.
The caption of the post read: “When you lose your licence, you become reliant on other people to take you where you need to go and you become a burden for others.
“If you get caught drink or drug driving, you will be disqualified,” the post stated.
Deputy Ó Cathasaigh replied to the post, and criticised the approach taken by the RSA.
He stated: “[It is] difficult to count the ways in which this is wrong-headed. But at least this: we should surely be trying to create a society where young people aren’t reliant on private cars.
“This again exposes tension at the heart of RSA Ireland – if your revenue depends on more cars, you get an approach that encourages more cars.
“Not to mind the tin ear to people with disabilities or otherwise precluded from driving, or the blind eye to active or public transport.
“I get what they were trying to do here, but do better, guys,” he concluded.
The RSA have received widespread criticism for the video, which received over 1.2 million views on X.
Epilepsy Ireland described the video as “deeply insensitive” and said they would write to the RSA on behalf of the epilepsy community in Ireland.
The video forms part of the RSA’s ‘Lose Your Licence, Lose Your Independence’ campaign.
The campaign is designed to make disqualification more relevant to young male drivers in a novel way.
Launching the campaign, the RSA stated: “It’s not about losing your licence; it’s about losing the freedom and independence that your licence gives you.
“When you lose your licence, you become reliant on other people – family, friends, colleagues – to take you where you need to go.
“That’s okay once or twice but, when you are disqualified for any length of time, you soon become overly reliant on others.
“Our campaign presents this in a memorable, off-beat way in order to land the message with our audience. We see the disqualified driver literally carried around by friends and family.
“This shows the lack of freedom and independence the disqualified driver has and how it affects those around them,” they concluded.
The Munster Express has approached the RSA for comment on Deputy Ó Cathasaigh’s concerns.
