We must all heed lessons of tragic road death of André, 8

The death of eight-year-old André Castro Ladeiro in Carrigaline must be a wake-up call for all drivers.

Last week, The Echo carried an article in which his parents spoke of their devastation after a driver was jailed for dangerous driving.

Joe Duffy interviewed André’s father, Cesar Ladeiro, on RTÉ’s Liveline following the sentencing of the driver, who drove through a red light of a pedestrian crossing, killing the innocent child.

I urge you to go listen to that interview online and hear André’s father speak so movingly about his beautiful boy. It should be compulsory listening for anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car, to appreciate the emotional devastation caused by bad driver behaviour.

Cesar tells a tale that unfolds as every parent’s worst nightmare. A normal day on the way to a summer activity that ends in a lifetime of grief.

The driver wasn’t drunk or speeding or on his mobile phone when he broke a red traffic light and ploughed into André, who suffered catastrophic head injuries and died in Temple Street Hospital four days later.

He was driving a Ford Ranger Wildtrak - a pick-up truck - and the sentencing judge said: “People who drive these vehicles in urban areas where there are a lot of houses have an increased burden (of care). It is not the same as driving a car.”

Vehicles like this make everyone else on the road vulnerable, particularly children.

Humans make mistakes, drivers have lapses in concentration, and accidents happen, but when a child is hit by a truck like this in a split-second mistake, the consequences are horrific.

As Joe Duffy put it, people need to “realise the power of the weapon they are driving”.

In the succession of unspeakable road tragedies that play out across our news and airwaves, the Ladeiros’ tragic story caught my attention. André was the same age as my son, and we too are a family who like to cycle around our neighbourhood.

The Ladeiros should have celebrated a double-digit birthday with their son last December, but instead they were awaiting the sentencing date of the driver who took his life.

Their story also struck fear into my heart because every day I witness the type of bad driving that killed their son.

No longer is the amber light a cue to slow and stop. For too many drivers that I see on the roads, it has become the signal to accelerate and ‘push the lights’. It has become normal for two, or even three, cars to drive through the red light after it turns from orange to red.

I have now drilled into my children never to fully trust the green man flashing at a pedestrian crossing. They must check that no cars are breaking the red lights before crossing.

Too often, I have been about to step onto the road as the green man signals that it is safe and a car has sped past me. Yet again, I think to myself, a selfish driver has put the on-time arrival at their destination over the safety of others.

At my children’s school pedestrian crossing, I once witnessed a pick-up truck drive through the junction as the school traffic warden stepped into the middle of the road - a mere split second before children were to cross. If any excited child had decided to bolt across the road - as children are wont to do after a day of sitting at desks - we would have all been witness to an unspeakable tragedy.

That truck driver made it about 100 metres down the road before joining a queue of traffic and I raged at the senseless risk-taking.

In that radio interview, André’s father spoke about how his son was a “great boy” in the way that all proud parents do. He mentioned how one year while visiting the Cork Summer Show, André learned about organ donation, understood its altruism, and kept a keyring in support of the cause.

The only positive to come from André’s senseless death is that his donated organs have undoubtedly changed the lives of many other families for good.

Cesar Ladeiro believes that the impact on his surviving family’s lives should be considered with sentencing. Even though they don’t carry a physical injury from the accident, they will live with its aftermath forever. The judge could have imposed a sentence up to ten years but the driver, John Moynihan, was sentenced to three years, with one suspended, and banned from driving for six years. His barrister said he will continue to suffer to the end of his days for his actions, and testimonials were given to the judge about his good character.

My tears fell listening to the end of the interview, as Joe Duffy tried to offer his final condolences and solace to Cesar Ladeiro. Duffy, too, lost a beloved family member in a traffic accident and the sadness could still be heard in his voice.

“I lost my own brother in a car accident. He was our youngest. He was 25 when he was killed, and it was not his fault,” said Duffy.

“It is a wound, Cesar, unfortunately that will never heal. It is a wound that will get smaller over the years, mainly through time, mainly through friends, mainly through your own family.”

These two grown men, so broken and sad, sharing their grief over the airwaves, were so heartbreaking to listen to.

There is nothing we can do to take away the pain of the Ladeiro family. We can trot out the worn expressions - extend our sympathies, send our love and light, and thoughts and prayers - but the most practical, concrete way we can honour them, and André’s memory, is by taking real steps to mind each other on the road.

We can honour André’s short life and the grief of the Ladeiro family by recognising how quickly everything can be taken away, and driving with the same care and caution we displayed on the day we took our driving test.

Slow down, stop at red lights, and show our fellow drivers and pedestrians the care and consideration we would show our own friends and families.

It’s the very least we can do.