World famous funeral director fronts road safety campaign
David McGowan made headlines in May this year across the world when he and a team of people transported a Boeing 767 plane from Shannon Airport to his glamping site in Co Sligo.
He is now fronting a campaign after Gardaí revealed that 341 motorists were caught behind the wheel while over the legal alcohol limit in the first two weeks of its annual seasonal crackdown.
The figure is a rise of 89, or 35%, on the same period last year.
The funeral director is now fronting a road safety campaign with Mayo County Council with the tagline “Tonight I'm going to get so trashed, they're going to have to carry me home.”
David McGowan has also produced a video clip asking people not to get the wheel when they have been drinking, saying he doesn’t want to be the one to have to carry you home in his professional role as an undertaker.
Mr McGowan said he did not wish to frighten people with talk of funerals, but he wanted them to be on their guard when using the roads.
"I want to instil in people before they get into a car with a speeding driver, or someone who may be under the influence, or have taken drugs, to stop and think because you have all this trauma and devastation that you bring on your family and on the whole community (if there is an accident)," he said.
To date, 182 people have been killed on Irish roads this year up to the morning of December 16, an increase of 35 compared to the same period last year. Tragically, 4 people have been killed in Mayo.
Noel Gibbons road safety officer Mayo County Council added: "The message in the campaign is that drink-driving destroys lives, families and communities.”
