Two people have died and one remains hospitalised in serious condition after road crashes that occurred in the first 24 hours of the October bank holiday road-safety operation.
Shortly after 3pm on Friday, gardaí and emergency services responded to a collision involving a lorry and a pedestrian at the junction of Arran Quay and Church Street.
The pedestrian, a man in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to come forward.
A man aged in his 20s died in a single-vehicle crash at Drimina, Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, in the early hours of Saturday. The crash took place at about 3.45am on the R294 road and gardaí have again appealed for witnesses.
The force has also appealed for information concerning a serious incident in which a woman in her 20s was injured seriously when her e-scooter crashed at Tom Bellew Avenue in Dundalk, Co Louth. The woman was discovered on the road. The incident is believed to have occurred at about 9.30pm on Friday. She was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
The incidents happened since the road-safety bank holiday programme began at 7am on Friday.
In an update on Saturday afternoon, gardaí said almost 127,176 vehicles had been checked for speeding. The Garda said 283 drivers have been detected and some have been especially dangerous.
Eight people died on the roads over the October bank holiday weekends between 2019 and 2023 and 71 were injured seriously.
The renewed bank holiday appeal comes as fresh data from the Road Safety Association show a sharp increase in fatalities during the peak morning commuting time of 6.00am to 9.00am this year.
By mid-October, there had been 19 deaths between 6.00am and 9.00am, compared with 11 in the same period in 2023 and five in 2022.
Commenting on these detections, Chief Supt Jane Humphries of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said: “Our October bank holiday roads policing operation has been under way since first thing Thursday morning and ... I am gravely concerned by the risks taken by some drivers and the two fatal road traffic collisions. Please slow down.”
There have been no further fatal road traffic collisions in the 24 hours from 7am Saturday to 7am Sunday of this October bank holiday weekend road policing operation, Gardaí said in a statement on Sunday morning.
A total of 79,742 vehicles have been checked for speeding in this 24 hour period. 136 were over the limit.
“It is positive that the majority of motorists are travelling within the designated speed, however, 136 drivers have been detected and some have been especially dangerous,” Gardaí said.
These included a driver at 88km/h in a 50km/h zone on the Newcastle Road, Co Galway and a driver at 167km/h in an 80km/h zone on the R162, Leggagh, Castletown, Co Meath.
Gardaí advised all drivers to “slow down and drive safely” over the rest of the long weekend.
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