Athlone An Post representatives pick up EU road safety award in Brussels
Two Athlone-based An Post representatives travelled to Brussels recently to receive an award in recognition of the company's efforts to improve road safety.
Clonark resident Terry McKinley and Ballydangan resident Tony Kenny, along with Waterford's Conor Coghlan, represented An Post at the European Union Excellence in Road Safety Awards 2023 which were held in the Belgian capital on October 19.
The awards recognise contributions made by EU member countries toward the shared goal of improved road safety across Europe.
There were five award categories this year, and An Post won the 'E-commerce' award for its project submission Driving Toward Zero, which is aligned with the EU road safety charter's target of zero road deaths by 2030.
The An Post road safety initiative aimed to make a positive difference to the safety of its drivers and their impact on other road users.
It involved the company developing "a bespoke driver safety handbook" for its light commercial vehicle fleet. The handbook contained information and tips on subjects including road safety legislation, driver behaviour, and adverse weather.
In addition to the handbook, an app was created in order to share information on road safety, offer training programmes for drivers of light and heavy goods vehicles, and enhance transport safety audits.
Transport and road safety videos were created and an internal awareness campaign was undertaken to highlight the dangers of vehicles rolling away due to incorrectly engaged handbrakes.
Terry McKinley, project manager for the initiative, said it had been a success. He said a decrease in the number of road traffic accidents and injuries had been noted over a two-year period, instances of speeding had greatly reduced, and significant savings had been made in fuel costs because of better fleet efficiencies.
An Post delivers to more than two million addresses on a daily basis. The company has the largest transport fleet in Ireland with over 4,000 heavy commercial vehicles and light commercial vehicles, 25% of which are now electric.
Some details about the An Post safety campaign are outlined in this video:
Other winners at the EU Excellence in Road Safety awards included the Municipality of Gdansk in Poland, for its traffic calming activities and campaign, and the Austrian Institute of Technology for its mobility observation box.