Pedestrian fights for life after suffering head injuries in crash

A MALE pedestrian remains fighting for his life after being struck by a car in Athlone, Co Westmeath, on Sunday evening.

The incident took place at around 11.50pm on the old Dublin Road in Athlone near the town’s institute of technology.

The 22-year-old victim received serious head injuries after being hit by the vehicle and was rushed to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, for treatment. His description was last night described as “stable, but serious”.

The 18-year-old male driver of the car was arrested at the scene and brought for questioning to Athlone Garda Station. He was subsequently released.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that a file on the case would be forwarded to the DPP.

The scene of the accident remained closed until yesterday afternoon as Garda forensic experts carried out an examination of the roadway.

In a separate accident in the Midlands, several people had a lucky escape following a collision involving five vehicles on the N6 in Co Westmeath yesterday afternoon.

The accident occurred at the new bridge at Farnagh, a short distance outside Moate, at around 3pm.

Two people were taken by ambulance to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, although their injures were described as minor.

The incident resulted in disruption to traffic on the main Dublin-Galway road, although the scene of the crash was cleared after a short period.

Meanwhile, gardaí yesterday confirmed the identity of the motorcyclist who was fatally injured when his vehicle was involved in a crash at Drumbear, Co Monaghan, on Sunday evening.

He was formally named as David Carolan, aged 30, from Billisnewins, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.

Monaghan gardaí are investigating the accident which resulted in Mr Carolan’s vehicle hitting a wall at around 5.15pm. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Last evening, a spokesperson for the Road Safety Authority gave a cautious welcome to preliminary figures which suggested it had been a quiet weekend on Irish roads in terms of traffic accidents. An average of six people had been killed in road accidents over the Easter bank holiday period in recent years. However, there has been a dramatic reduction since 2007.

Significant extra Garda resources were deployed over this Easter weekend to target increased compliance by drivers with speed and drink-driving limits.

Gardaí had been concerned by a 25% increase in detected drink driving incidents recorded over the previous St Patrick’s weekend compared with the corresponding period in 2007.

A total of 71 people have been killed on roads so far this year.