Gardaí to quiz stolen car driver

THE driver of a stolen car involved in a crash that killed a woman will be questioned by gardaí after he is released from hospital.

A 34-year-old man was arrested following the two-car collision at Aske near Gorey, Co Wexford, on Saturday evening.

The man, the only occupant of the stolen car, is being treated at Wexford General Hospital but will be questioned upon his release.

A 37-year-old woman, a passenger in the second car, was fatally injured in the crash, which happened at 9.40pm on the N11. The male driver was seriously injured and is being treated in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

A garda patrol had spotted the stolen car earlier in the evening but was not following the vehicle when the crash happened. The patrol car was three to four miles from the scene of the cash, gardaí said. Five people died and 67 people were injured over the four-day Easter bank holiday period, it was revealed yesterday. A nationwide road safety campaign was carried out from Good Friday to Easter Monday.

Garda figures reveal there were five accidents involving fatalities, 42 involving personal injuries and 243 involving damages to vehicles only.

Only 27 of the accidents over the holiday weekend involved individuals who were drinking and driving.

There was a large increase in the number of speeding detections, from 2229 over the same period last year to 3301 this year. This increase may partly be due to the changeover to metric.

Gardaí stopped 240 drink drivers, down 15 from last year.

They also caught 157 motorists driving dangerously, carelessly or without due care or attention.