Ashling Gallagher was killed in a crash in December 2004, on a road she knew well, but which was under repair at the time. David Labanyi reports
Ashling Gallagher was killed in a head-on collision near her home in Co Mayo three days before Christmas 2004, when her van drifted across the road at a bend and collided with a lorry.
Her family are convinced the temporary road surface and traffic management measures along a 1.8km section of the N59 contributed to the crash in which the 22-year-old graduate died.
Since Ashling's death, the Gallaghers have become deeply frustrated at what they feel is the reluctance on the part of the responsible agencies; the National Roads Authority and the Department of Transport, to investigate this aspect of the crash.
It was only after convincing the Health and Safety Authority in January this year that the road where Ashling died was a work site, that this agency started an investigation into the road conditions. An inquest into her death has been adjourned until the HSA inquiry is complete.
While the NRA sets road design standards and approves funding, it does not monitor whether the local authorities adhere to guidelines. No agency does.
At any one time the NRA has up to 700 upgrade projects and it has neither the resources nor the mandate to enforce compliance with its directives and circulars.
Ashling was driving on a road underlay called dense bitumen macadam (DBM) base course. This material is used to give strength to roads before being covered with a top permanent layer.
NRA regulations require that outside a 50km/h (30mph) speed limit, DBM surfaces must be covered with a final running surface for maximum grip as soon as practicable. The NRA Design Manual for Roads and Bridges states DBM is "not permitted as a permanent wearing course".
Where a temporary surface will exist for some time, the NRA requires councils to put in place a traffic management plan.
Mr Gallagher believes a combination of the surface, rain and "inadequate warning signs" contributed to the crash. "Ashling hasn't been the first to be killed on this kind of temporary road surface and she won't be the last," Mr Gallagher says.
Ashling's father makes this claim having worked on road construction projects in Ireland and England for much of his life.
Part of the reason the Gallaghers are convinced the road surface had a role in the crash is the absence of any other obvious reason, other than the one of driver error.
However, the garda investigation is understood to have found she was not driving excessively fast for the conditions. Ashling had held a full licence for three years without crashing, and was familiar with the road.
When gardaí inspected her van after the crash, they found no defects. Files submitted for the inquest also show that Ashling's mobile phone was not in use at the time of the crash.
Mr Gallagher says most drivers would not have noticed the surface on the N59 that Christmas was a temporary one. "Although there were bollards, and the council says there were warning signs, the road had been lined. To the ordinary motorist this was a finished road," he says.
Days after Ashling's death Mr Gallagher contacted Mayo County Council asking for additional warning signs and a speed restriction until the final surface was applied. Mr Gallagher was concerned for other road users.
He also asked the council why the road had been left with a temporary surface throughout the winter. In response the council placed flashing hazard lights along the temporary surface, and also additional signs warning of a slippery surface.
In a letter to the Gallagher family in February 2005 the council explained a speed restriction was not necessary. Peter Hynes, director of services at the council said a skid resistance test had been carried out on the temporary surface on January 13th, 2005.
This test "confirmed that the slip resistance on this section of the N59 was adequate for a national secondary road where a normal speed limit (of 100km/h) applies". Therefore no speed restriction was necessary, Mr Hynes said.
Mr Joe Beirne, Mayo county council engineer, said he could not comment on the investigation into Ashling's crash. However, he said comprehensive signage was placed along the upgraded section warning motorists that they were coming into a work situation and they should slow.
These signs remained in place until the upgrade was complete. He said there were no speed restrictions in place during that upgrade of the N59.
At this point, having brought their concerns to the attention of the relevant authorities, most people would have dropped the issue to grieve and mourn with their family.
But the Gallagher family was not satisfied with the answers provided, believing lessons can be learned from the tragedy.
They believe local authorities apply speed restrictions and warning signs inconsistently for temporary road surfaces, and they wanted to know why a test on the surface was carried out only after a fatal crash. So they asked more questions.
Three weeks after the skid resistance test, it was confirmed to the Gallaghers by the NRA that using "dense bitumen macadam is not approved as a permanent surfacing on a high speed road (ie outside a speed restricted area), as set out in document HD/99". Where such a surface must be used, a traffic safety plan should be put in place, according to NRA guidelines.
This raises the question of how long a temporary surface can remain in place? NRA design guidelines recommend finishing the road "as soon as practicable". Where Ashling died, the temporary surface on the N59 was in place for almost six months, from October to March.
Work started on September 23rd, 2004, and ended on October 4th. Under the contract for this work, the successful bidder - Roadstone Provinces - were to start work no later than June 30th.
According to the council, "adverse weather conditions" prevented laying of the final surface after Roadstone had laid the temporary surface. Under the contract Mayo Co Co was to lay the final surface.
The start date for the upgrading project is important, because laying the final surface is "weather dependent". The later in the year this work begins, the more likely the project will run into bad weather. The final surface was laid in March 2005, six months after the temporary surface was laid.
Mr Gallagher admits to being tired of his 20-month struggle to gather information about the crash. He has accumulated a large file of letters, regulations and contract details that he has repeatedly copied and sent to the Departments of the Environment and Transport, the NRA and a number of TDs.
The NRA is only responsible for the national routes, which is approximately one-tenth of the State's national road network. Responsibility for non-national roads rests with the Department of the Environment.
In a letter to the Gallagher family in July 2005, Minister Dick Roche said he had regularly reminded local authorities of the need to examine "all un-surfaced-dressed bitumen macadam overlays on rural non-national roads; for the provision of surface dressing on such roads soon as practicable; and for the installation of adequate signage on these roads pending the surface dressing operation".
According to NRA data, 3 per cent of crashes in which someone is killed or seriously injured are due to road factors.
The NRA says most of these crashes involved dangerous junctions and bends, rather than road surfaces. An NRA source also said their research did not suggest a Republic-wide issue with temporary road surfaces.
He added that small variations between traffic management plans and speed restrictions reflected the differences in individual road upgrade projects.
Whatever the result of the HSA investigation into Ashling's death - and the subsequent inquest - questions raised by the Gallagher family should raise issues about how local authorities manage traffic at road work sites.