Narrow escape as toll plaza barrier smashes windscreen

A WOMAN driving a car through a toll on a multi-million euro motorway narrowly escaped injury when the barrier came down on her windscreen.

Rosario Mellett, whose car is equipped with an electronic tag designed to automatically activate the toll, said she was “in shock” after the barrier smacked against her windscreen yesterday as she drove through the toll on the N8 Rathcormac/Fermoy bypass in Co Cork.

“I had my tag on the dashboard and just as I went through, the barrier came down. It smashed the left hand side of the windscreen. I didn’t realise what was happening until I heard a big thud and little pieces of glass flew into the car,” Ms Mellett said.

The Mayo woman, who is based in Cork, said a staff member at the toll plaza said she had ignored a red light warning not to pass through the toll and that road signs on the approach to the toll advised motorists to keep a certain distance between each car.

However, Ms Mellett said she presumed the barrier would automatically let her through upon reading her etoll device.

“That’s why I have the tag, so that I don’t have to stop,” Ms Mellett said.

Ms Mellet’s partner, Jim Desmond, who was travelling separately, said they had used the etoll system for six months, including on the M50 and the M4, and had never had an incident with it prior to yesterday.

Mr Desmond, from Rochestown, Cork, said they were fortunate Ms Mellett did not have a front-seat passenger in the car when the barrier came down.

Mr Desmond claimed that following the incident, staff at the toll plaza requested they remove the car, which Mr Desmond said they refused to do on the grounds it was not safe to drive. He said staff warned him the car could be towed at his expense, if he failed to remove it. He then parked it in the staff car park and both he and Ms Mellett continued on their way to Tipperary racecourse where they were working yesterday.

Direct Route Ltd operates the toll at Condonstown Toll Plaza in Watergrasshill where the incident occurred before lunchtime. However, there was no-one available to comment yesterday.

The €295 million motorway with a toll bypass of Fermoy opened in Co Cork three years ago.

Electronic tolling (etoll) allows motorists to use electronic tolling lanes, thereby saving time and the need to carry cash when travelling through a toll road.