Six-car crash causes major M50 delays

A six-vehicle pile up on Dublin's M50 caused major delays to commuters this morning.

The collision happened near junction seven, close to Lucan at 6.35am, blocking all south-bound lanes. Traffic backed up as far as junction five at Finglas and the crash wasn't fully cleared until just before 8am.

It is understood that the collision involved a motorcyclist and six cars, and that no life-threatening injuries were sustained.

"We could see the traffic queues on the cameras and delays started to build up immediately," said AA Roadwatch Controller Nicola Hudson.

"Over the course of the morning the M50 was a no-go area and all commuter routes were affected", she added. At 9am, the M50 was delayed from the interchange with the M1 to juction seven.

Traffic was also delayed on the northbound lane from before junction 13 at Ballinteer to the Red Cow roundabout.

Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said was was the need for a rapid reaction traffic unit to deal with incidents such as this mornings.

"This is yet another example of the need for a quick reaction force with the necessary powers to keep traffic moving and to ensure emergency services can reach the site of an accident," Mr O'Dowd said.

"There are repeated examples over the past years of motorists being caught on the M50 or Dublin's key traffic arteries for hours due to a single accident or road works."