Plea for better driver behaviour as four die in weekend road crashes

THE deaths of two young men in weekend crashes in Co Kerry brings to 18 the number of people killed in traffic accidents in the county so far this year — the highest number since records began, according to gardaí.

They were among four people, all of them young men, who died at the weekend following accidents in Kerry, Tipperary and Kilkenny.

Andrew Tattershall, 22, of Iveragh Park, Killorglin, was pronounced dead at the scene of a head-on crash at Kilderry, on the Milltown/Killorglin road, at 9.10pm on Saturday night.

The Peugeot 106 he was driving collided with an oncoming VW Polo close to a bend.

A front seat passenger in Mr Tattershall’s car, also a man in his early 20s, was seriously injured, while a man and a woman in the other car sustained minor injuries. All were removed to Kerry General Hospital, in Tralee.

Superintendent Michael O’Donovan, Caherciveen, yesterday said that gardaí were greatly concerned about road safety in Kerry.

“We’re appealing to drivers to be aware of their behaviour on the road and to realise that everyone is responsible for their own behaviour when they sit behind the wheel. This a dreadful year on our roads and we don’t want any more deaths,” he said.

He said speeding and alcohol consumption were key factors in road accidents.

The man who died on Friday night in a collision between a jeep and trailer and a car around 7.45pm on the new stretch of the N21 between Feale’s Bridge and Hedley’s Bridge, in Co Kerry, has been named as 18-year-old Ray Stryker from Kilmaniheen West, Brosna. He was a passenger in a car, whose driver was seriously injured.

The jeep driver, the sole occupant of his vehicle, was also injured but his injuries are not life threatening

There was a second minor collision involving cars which came on the scene, but no injuries.

James Cassin, 19, of Wilderness Grove, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, died at Cork University Hospital on Saturday from injuries he received when his motorbike was in collision with a car at Jackson’s Cross, Cahir Road, Clonmel at 9.15pm on Thursday.

The 20-year-old pedestrian who died after being struck by a car at Kilfane, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny at 2am on Saturday, was named as Patrick Hayes, of Market Street, Thomastown.