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Lack of gritting implicated in crash deaths
A father and his only son were killed in a head-on collision on an icy road last winter because part of a road they were travelling on was not gritted, an inquest has heard, writes Linda McGrory.
John Gallagher (55), who was driving, and his son Seán (24) died when their Ford Mondeo hit an icy patch, spun around and careered into the path of an oncoming car.
The incident happened on January 30th, 2010, on the Derry to Letterkenny road at Carnamaddy, Burt, Co Donegal.
Donegal coroner Dr John Madden said the men had suffered “unsurvivable” injuries. He offered sympathy to Mr Gallagher’s wife Hillary and daughters Aisling (23), Aoife (19) and Eilish (15).
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
Dr Madden said he would send a copy of the inquest report to Donegal County Council. “We have heard a lot about cutbacks in council budgets and road gritting is unfortunately one of the casualties,” he added.
“People should have a reasonable expectation that when they set out on a journey, the road will be fit for purpose.”