Longford County Council joins forces with iRadio and 10 other local authorities for TikTok Mic Drop Road Safety Campaign

Road Safety offices from local authorities across the North West, Midlands and North East of the  country have joined forces to launch the very first TikTok Mic Drop Road Safety competition. 

Held in conjunction with iRadio, TikTok Mic Drop is putting the spotlight on all age groups and their  capacity to deliver a positive message to their peers and the wider community to communicate the  importance of safe road user behaviour to ultimately save lives.  

The competition invites participants to create their own song or rap focussing on sharing the road  safely and upload this onto TikTok tagging iRadio and mentioning their Local Authority. #Longford 

In 2020, we regrettably saw a rise in the number of pedestrians killed on Irish roads, up 19% on  2019. We also saw increases in the number of cyclist and motorcyclist fatalities, up 25% and 6%  respectively. This campaign wants to change this trend.  

We want to empower people to have conversations with their friends about making safe choices  when they are behind the wheel, on foot, or however they use the road. Entrants for the road safety  competition are asked to focus on sharing the road with other road users be they cyclists, drivers,  horse riders, motorcyclists or pedestrians. 

This innovative challenge is being promoted by 11 local authorities (Kildare, Monaghan, Laois,  Longford, Donegal, Cavan, Sligo, Mayo, Galway City Council, Leitrim and Westmeath) in partnership  with iRadio with a prize fund of €5,500. There are individual prizes of €1,000 for the four best entries  and two spot prizes, one of €1,000 and one of €500 which will be awarded to the best entry  submitted by a school, sports team, club or community group. (Please adhere to COVID-19  guidelines when recording.)

While competing for the prize, video-makers will be able to highlight  some of the most important road safety issues affecting their area in regards to respect and courtesy  on the roads and pinpoint key ways that improvements can be made which is sure to benefit the  local community. 

Longford County Council Road Safety Officer Martina McGrath says “A road safety film made by a  young person will resonate deeply with their peers and send a strong message. We believe that the  TikTok Mic Drop video competition will attract participation from students in primary and secondary  schools, colleges, universities and even the mature residents of our counties can come on board  with the local authorities and iRadio in making road safety a culture. The videos submitted for the  contest will play an important role in educating the masses and promoting road safety." 

iRadio CEO Mark Cunning says “We're delighted to be involved with so many of the county councils  in our region. Over the years we've had to air far too many stories on iRadio about the loss of young  lives on our roads. There's a difference between talking to young people and talking at them, it's  great to see such forward thinking from our county councils and the Local Authority Road Safety 

Officers. Our aim is to educate through entertainment and interaction. I'm really looking forward  to seeing you, the user, generate content from this initiative.” 

The mechanic to enter this competition is through TikTok, and the listener must share their creation  on their own platform and tag/mention @Thisisiradio and use their county’s hashtag ie #Longford  TikTok Mic Drop starts on iRadio on 8 March. Best of Luck to All taking part!