With the increasing number of foreign nationals living and working in Northern Ireland, the Minister launched a special multimedia guide aimed at the Polish, Lithuanian, Portuguese and Chinese communities.
As he launched the ‘Better Driving Behaviour’ pack, Mr Wilson said the Department of the Environment (DOE) had to ensure its road safety messages were available to these new communities.
The Minister explained: “Northern Ireland has become a home to people of many different nationalities over recent years, and some have come from places with very different driving cultures.
“All drivers, including those who have come from abroad, need to have an understanding of key road safety issues and a knowledge of the rules of the road. Road safety information must be accessible to all who need it, and this package will be circulated to some of the largest foreign national communities.”
The foreign language package contains a DVD with five new instructional advertisements that will provide all drivers with a reminder of the need for attentive driving.
The adverIisements, together with the current portfolio of successful television and radio advertisements, have been translated into Polish, Lithuanian, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.
A CD-Rom containing translations of the recently revised Highway Code is also included in the package.
The Department has also produced two leaflets - one which provides guidance on the legal requirement to use the correct car seat for a child and the second with information on the effects of alcohol on driving.
Minister Wilson said: “My Department is responsible for ensuring everyone who uses the road has a firm grasp of what is expected of them. That is why we have produced this multimedia pack - to ensure that those who have come from near and far to live among us are au fait with the rules of the road as they operate in Northern Ireland.”
The package will be distributed among the four foreign national groups across Northern Ireland. Downloadable versions of the Highway Code and leaflets will also be made available on the road safety website
Notes to Editors:
1. The DVD consists of the 11 current television adverts and five new ‘attentive driver’ edits dealing with taking time, expecting the unexpected, reading the road, dealing with traffic lights and using mirrors.
2. The translations of the Highway Code and the leaflets will be available on the DOE’s road safety website
3. PSNI and NICEM statistics have identified Polish, Lithuanian, Portuguese and Mandarin as four of the larger foreign language communities in Northern Ireland, and four of the communities that generate the greatest demand for translation services. The need for road safety materials in other languages is being kept under review, and other foreign language material may follow.
4. For media enquiries please contact DOE Press Office tel. 028 9054 0014 or out of office hours, contact EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
