Schoolchildren from Gorey, Co Wexford, were yesterday given a first-hand experience of what it is like to be in a car travelling at 100km/h (62mph) when the emergency brake is applied.
About 30 teenagers aged between 15 and 17 years, some of whom have driving experience, were driven in twos and threes by specialist gardaí in a Renault Scenic at high speeds along a closed section of the Gorey bypass.
The car's anti-lock brakes were then applied, sending the car in one instance into a 61-metre skid.
The experience was then repeated at various speeds and in a Citroen Saxo car which was not fitted with anti-lock brakes. According to Garda measurements the stopping distance was in one case as much as 93 metres.
The students from Gorey Community College appeared genuinely shaken by the experience, although gardaí and Wexford County Council stressed the demonstration had been carried out under stringent safety conditions, and that its purpose was to demonstrate safe rather than bad driving.
Many children said they were very surprised at how far the car travelled once the brakes were applied. Some pointed out that the demonstration was carried out in ideal, dry conditions on a good road surface, and that the Renault was a new car with excellent tyres.
Michelle Hennessy (15) said the experience was "scary".
"I was hyperventilating," she added. Damian Wheelan (17) said it would "definitely" change his attitude to driving. "I would really think about speed and seat belts," he said.
Chris Rawlings (16) said he hoped to be driving soon and the experience had taught him not to speed. "I would be careful after that," he said.
In the afternoon the children were given what was described as a "shock and awe" road safety lesson in the nearby Ashdown Park Hotel. The lesson featured crash scene videos and commentary from the Garda Traffic Corps.
The initiative, called Just One Life, is the brainchild of the Wexford Rotary Club. Wexford County Council administers the scheme along with Sgt Pat Burke of the Garda Traffic Corps. It is planned to extend it to every school in Co Wexford, and the Road Safety Authority is to draw up a report on the prospects of extending it nationwide.