SETU students proudly rise to road safety challenge

Students from South East Technological University (SETU) were commended for their involvement in the Road Safety Reimagined 2024 challenge, which highlighted the dangers posed by drug driving.

Six groups of students were among 800 from universities across Ireland who participated in the initiative, which is part of the Garda Lifesaver Project.

Participants were tasked with creating marketing campaigns targeted at 18 to 25-year-olds, with the focus on discouraging driving under the influence of drugs. The event was particularly relevant in the wake of an increase in road deaths since the beginning of this year.

The initiative was led by Dr Christina O’Connor, from the University of Limerick, and Sergeant Tony Miniter from the Limerick Roads Policing Unit.

During the semester, students of the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) module at SETU, received a talk from Sgt Miniter about the importance of road safety and good driver behaviour. The students had the challenge of reaching out to young drivers and getting them to think about their attitudes and behaviours on the road, while starting the conversation about drug driving.

The initiative culminated in a showcase event held in the Concert Hall at UL, sponsored by ESB and offering €8,000 in prize money.

The six SETU groups all excelled in the challenge presented and the overall winners of the six SETU groups present were Bachelor of Business (Hons) students: Alicia Burberry, Sophie O’Keeffe, Erin O’Reilly, Faye Tully, Sarah Reid, and Keisha Ogieriakhi. They were presented with crystal vases and a prize of €1,000.

Dr Anne-Marie Ivers, who lectured the group, said: “We were honoured to have taken part in the Road Safety Reimagined Initiative 2024, and to have the opportunity to work on such a worthwhile initiative.” “It is particularly important for students to realise that their ideas can have an impact,” she said.

SETU also boasted the overall runner-up in the ‘Most Visually Impactful’ category, with students from the Bachelor of International Business (Hons), composed of: Megan Murphy, Janine Silva, Sam O’Mahony, Rimsha Sajid, Diana Kravchenko and Favour Titilayo.

Their lecturer, Dr Fiona Whelan-Ryan, congratulated the students and in acknowledging each of the group members highlighted their “individual and collective creativity, commitment to the aim and impact of the project, as well as their hard work in striving to refine their work and produce excellent pitches and a visually impactful poster”.

The overall winners were students from Maynooth University and their concept will be rolled out by An Garda Síochána as part of their overall strategy on education around road safety.

Following the competition, Sinead O’Keeffe, Lecturer in Marketing, at SETU, said: “This was a great initiative for our students to be involved with and we are so proud of their efforts and the creativity that they displayed in their posters. This challenge was a wonderful opportunity to showcase not only the talent of our students but also to highlight the role marketing can play in changing behaviour for social good.”