WHENEVER Marjorie Flood hears of a death on the roads she remembers her "full of life" son Mark.It is almost five years since the 19-year-old died after a belated Christmas party in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. He went out on the road to get a taxi, stumbled out and was struck by a car.
"You are never going to forget them. There is a huge hole in your life," the mother of three, from Castleknock in Dublin, said. "For the first few years you are in a blur, it will be five years and I'm only starting to come to terms with it now. You'll remember it every day."
Responsibility
On Sunday, November 18, Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims, Marjorie will be one of countless parents and families remembering those who have lost their lives on the roads.
Assistant Commissioner of the Garda Traffic Bureau, Gerard Phillips, urged people to take more responsibility when they get behind the wheel. "Remember it is not just victims, we have families and they have to live with it for the rest of their lives," he said.
Since records began in 1959 there have been 23,227 people killed on Irish roads.
Meghann Scully (23) told how a family "never gets over" losing a loved one on the roads. Her only brother Marcus Scully turned 18 on Valentine's Day in 2005.
Just 18 days later he was a passenger in a car which crashed on the way home from rugby training.
His room remains intact at the family home in Ardrahan, Co Galway.
"It tore us apart. It absolutely broke our hearts. Marcus is nearly eight-years dead, it took me seven years to allow myself to grieve," she said.
A number of events taking place around the country on Remembrance Day are listed on the Road Safety Authorities website www.rsa.ie