Speeding in fog was to blame for motorway mayhem: gardaí
The collisions on motorways in Kildare yesterday morning resulted in one driver suffering life-threatening injuries.
The series of multiple-vehicle accidents on the M7 and M9 around 9am resulted in one of the worst traffic jams ever on Irish roads. Thousands of motorists were stuck in tailbacks which took more than four hours to clear.
The first major accident took place on the M7 in dense fog. Three heavy goods vehicles and a small car were involved in a serious collision near the junction for the Curragh Camp.
The female driver of the car was reported to be in a critical condition after being rushed to Naas General Hospital by ambulance.
The accident is believed to have triggered a series of minor collisions. Vehicles coming on the scene of the crash had to brake suddenly due to poor visibility.
Four other people were also admitted to Naas General Hospital suffering from serious head and neck injuries. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
A Health Service Executive spokesperson confirmed last night that another patient had been transferred from Naas to Tallaght Hospital. A child injured in one of the accidents was brought to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children to Crumlin for treatment.
Six other patients were still undergoing assessment at Naas last night. Several dozen others were discharged earlier after treatment for minor injuries.
The second serious accident occurred when a fuel tanker jackknifed on the M9 Kilcullen bypass, near the motorway’s junction with the M7, shortly after 9am. It created a chain reaction of other minor accidents involving dozens of vehicles.
Superintendent Ken Brennan, the regional garda traffic commander, said: “Drivers had ample visibility if they would adjust their driving. Most motorists didn’t adjust their driving to match the road and weather conditions and that contributed to the mayhem.”
He also said a large number of drivers had also failed to put on their dipped headlights and fog lamps to alert other motorists.
Eyewitnesses said their first warning of any problems occurred when red brake lights suddenly appeared out of thick fog. Sharp braking forced many motorists to veer onto the central median and hard shoulder of the motorways to avoid a collision.
Many reported seeing other motorists travelling at 120kph in the fog, even though the Road Safety Authority said the appropriate speed was 30kph.
Former Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan, who was caught up in the pile-up, described the scene at the main accident site as like “an unfolding scene from a horror movie”.
According to gardaí, between 15 and 20 accidents occurred in five minutes on a two-mile stretch of the M7 motorway at Ballymany near the southern junction for Newbridge. A similar number were reported on the M9 under the tunnel near its junction with the M7.
Naas General Hospital put its major emergency plan into action after first reports of the accidents were received by the emergency services.
A total of 38 ambulances from Dublin, Navan, Kildare, Naas, Portlaoise and Tullamore were involved in ferrying the injured to Naas.
Supt Brennan said it was too early to say if some motorists would face criminal prosecution.
