Naturally, I reflect on the precious life of my sister Donna at this time. Donna, who died after being knocked off her bike in 2016,was happy and in full bloom, her life on a good path that awful morning we lost her.

I'm so grateful for this. Her loyalty, kindness and gentle heart sustain me on difficult days, and the optimism she always possessed influences my approach to road safety campaigns. I feel far more blessed to have had Donna grace my life, than angry at her loss.

Grief can be complicated. There is a lot of collateral damage after each road death. Each experience is different. For some the aftermath is fractured relationships, discord, health and wellbeing issues to wrestle with. Yet hope is key, whether it is to be there for one's child, to make sure Christmas has its sparkle still. 

Personally, I try to channel the grief in acting on the hope that we can save others from this journey. Many do likewise. World Day of Remembrance is not a carnival of morbidness or a dragging up of the tragic loss of Donna Fox and the thousands like her. Rather it's the coming together of road safety stakeholders and the bereaved to honour our pledge to you, in their memory, to save your life on the roads! But we need everyone on board.

Personal responsibility can't be overlooked. While some call it victim blaming, we disregard it at our peril. Legislation, enforcement and certainly, where cycling safety is concerned, infrastructure is vital; but we need to look in the mirror. 

There's nothing disempowering about taking full responsibility for our part. Wearing seatbelts, lighting up, the war on hi-vis must end! As a cycling promoter and a pedestrian I say this. As an observer of e-scooters I beg it; it's the winter, it's dark!

While many accuse the RSA of being less than progressive, this week as part of its welcome expansion of focus, it began to work with Twitch. The hope is that this digital push and night time audio content will spread the message to those who may not watch or listen to mainstream media.

The RSA has already added to its more traditional campaigns and media avenues, such as television and radio adverts. It is very active on Meta ( Facebook, Instagram), its activity is notable on TikTok, Spotify and a variety of digital audio platforms, podcast adverts, videos on demand and of course YouTube too. 

At a recent meeting with Jack Chambers, the Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, I brought up the dearth of third level involvement in road safety initiatives. While I applaud the many one-day events held in schools, and the excellent Garda LifeSaver project which has had positive involvement with the University of Limerick for example, we need to look for more consistent and imaginative approaches. This is where a youth led focus can help us. 

While I have raised the notion of a peoples' forum on road safety, I wasn't aware until last month that a young peoples' forum is to be set up with full support from the RSA. I would love to see the introduction of road safety into the school curriculum too.

For this year's launch of World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, President Michael D. Higgins warmly invited many of us to Áras an Uachtaráin where he spoke of the collective will required to make vision zero not a pipe dream but a reality in our lifetime. That will need to, in my opinion, cover those who have been convicted in the past of road offences and also current young drivers in particular. 

A discipline long ignored that could be a real game changer is the use of competent psychology. A couple of years ago I backed  a "victim's" perspective the study conducted by Kiran Sarma, a psychologist with University of Galway. 

The RSA will be supporting Dr Sarma in new research focusing on young male drivers, regarding phone and device usage while driving. We need this to find evidence based campaigns that will work. Device use is a developing menace on the roads, and as it's evolving so we must be proactive and progressive. It may seem controversial to enlist help from people who may not have in the past been responsible drivers, but it has an important role to play no matter how uncomfortable it can seem. Saving lives on our roads is the mission.

This World Day of Remembrance is the first one for over 160 families this year in the Republic alone; numbers of fatalities north of the border also increased this year. As they also prepare for their first Christmas without the presence of their loved one, it is probably impossible just now to really get any solace from campaigns aimed at the living, so raw is their grief. 

But I do hope that the lighting of candles, prayers and goodwill that happens all over Ireland to remember those taken from us, can at least give them a sense of consolation and to know that their loved ones did not die in vain. Their names, faces and stories matter and influence the future of road safety. They deserve all of us to mind ourselves and others on the roads today and always. It's in all our power to ensure fewer families go through this.