Two killed in Tyrone crash

The death toll on the North's roads is running at one every three days, it emerged tonight.

With two killed today after a head-on smash between a lorry and a car on the Dungannon Road, Cookstown, a grieving mother has called for an end to the carnage.

Esther Montgomery, whose daughter Gemma, 18, from Bangor, died in a road collision, said drivers should see sense.

“Speaking generally, people don‘t adhere to the rules and unless those are enforced and you get more police on the road they won’t want to know,” she said.

“People always think accidents will never happen to them but many of us are at risk, even those on footpaths.” Gemma‘s soldier boyfriend Gordon Godley crashed the vehicle in 2003 when two warrants were out for his arrest in Scotland. She was killed on the Bangor to Belfast road.

“I just despair sometimes and unless you adhere to the rules and there is major change these will continue,” Ms Montgomery added.

In today‘s Co Tyrone crash one passenger, 27, was killed at the scene and the driver died shortly afterwards in Craigavon Area Hospital. The cause of the accident has not been determined.

There have been 18 fatalities this year. These include one child and three adult pedestrians, nine drivers and one motorcyclist as well as two passengers.

Young male drivers are most at risk with one-in-five accidents happening within the first year of driving.

An 18-year-old is three times as likely to be involved in a collision than a 48-year-old.

On February 3, Gareth Ellesmere, 13. from Cotton Road, Bangor, was hit by a vehicle as he was walking on West Street, Newtownards.

Police have appealed for witnesses to today‘s accident.