Young UK couple die in holiday crash

A young couple from the UK who were in Ireland to attend a wedding died yesterday when their rental car was involved in a collision with a lorry in South Kerry.

The lunchtime accident occurred at a junction, Barry’s Cross, near Ballinskelligs, on the main road to Cahersiveen.

Three units of the fire service along with ambulances, gardaí and a helicopter were tasked to the scene at Cloon.

The man and woman, in their 20s, died at the scene. The driver of the lorry was uninjured.

Gardaí appealed for witnesses as a full investigation commenced.

Their deaths brought to 145, the number of fatalities on roads this year — 18 more than the corresponding period in 2012.

The double tragedy came as gardaí, local authorities and public transport agencies plan to implement, from today, an eight-week casualty reduction campaign targeting 10 speeding blackspots in the capital.

Along with Garda “robot vans” and plain clothes police, they will also target busy city junctions where careless drivers and cyclists break red lights and risk collisions with Luas trams.

Road safety bosses said they were concerned at the rise in road fatalities nationally so far this year after seven years of reductions. Chief Supt Aidan Reid said the death toll included 72 drivers, 23 motorcyclists, and 19 pedestrians. The figures are against the background of a “61% reduction in road fatalities” between 2001 and 2012.

The rise, this year, has been even more pronounced in Dublin with the number of deaths almost doubling, from eight to 15.

The traffic boss said the October and November, along with April and May, were key danger periods for road collisions.

He pointed out there had been a steady reduction in fatalities in Dublin in October/November in recent years: dropping from 10 in 2009 to one in 2012. “We want to achieve zero this year. People make mistakes and these mistakes cause collisions and cost lives.”

Speeding motorists, in particular, are to be targeted as it emerged many are driving on average up to 32km/h above the maximum limits on major roads around Dublin City.

The top 10 speed locations in Dublin and the average speed (km/h) over the limit are:

* Naas Rd: 23.6km/h-32.5km/h over the limit;

* Swords Road, Whitehall — 28.4km/h;

* Ballycullen Road — 27.8km/h;

* Drummartin Link Road — 26.8km/h.

Noel Brett, head of the Road Safety Authority, warned about the dangers of excessive speed.