PDforra call for ban on military trucks on the roads

Soldiers’ representatives tonight called for military trucks to be taken off the roads for safety reasons after 28 soldiers were injured in a motorway pile-up.

The Defence Forces have said 16 have been released from hospital and, following examination, no soldier has any broken bones.

The troops were travelling without seatbelts in a convoy of army carriers on the M50 when three of the lorries collided with two cars.

Up to 30 soldiers, who were sitting on benches in the back of the vehicles, were thrown about with one suffering a broken leg and others spinal and neck injuries.

PDforra, the Defence Forces representative body, called for an immediate ban on troop transport in the canvas roofed trucks until safety is improved.

“They should not be travelling in vehicles like these if it has already been identified that they need roll bars and restraints,” deputy general secretary Simon Devereux said.

“The bottom line is that we are now calling on military authorities to suspend the transport of troops in these vehicles until the proper safety equipment has been fitted.”

Banning the trucks is widely regarded as impractical as they are used for around 2,000 operations a year.

PDforra called for the Health and Safety Authority to review the army trucks following a similar accident last June in Granard, Co Longford when 12 soldiers were injured.

Money to upgrade and improve safety on the trucks has been made available and the Defence Forces said it was in the early stages of securing roll-over protection systems including safety harnesses which will be fitted to more than 150 trucks.

Ten soldiers suffered minor injuries including cuts and bruises in the M50 crash, one sustained a broken leg and 11 others were being treated for suspected neck and spinal injuries.

The injured were treated at five Dublin hospitals including St Bricin’s Military Hospital.

Willie O’Dea, Defence Minister, said his thoughts were with the injured officers.

“I would wish the injured a speedy recovery. And specifically in relation to PDforra’s call for transport to be suspended, as that is an operational matter the military will have to make the call on that,” he said.

The Labour Party also expressed concern about safety on the trucks with defence spokesman Brian O’Shea insisting it underlined the need for improved protections as soon as possible.

A spokesman for the Defence Forces refused to be drawn on the cause of the crash as investigations were ongoing.

“A garda road traffic accident investigation assisted by Military Police, along with a Defence Forces health and safety investigation will take place into the cause of this accident,” he said.

Mr Devereux said PDforra was very concerned for the safety of its members injured in the accident.

“We ask the military authorities to immediately suspend travel in these trucks until safety devices, which have been promised, are fitted in the best interests of health and safety,” he said.

The crash happened near junction five of the M50 at the Ballymun interchange just before 11am causing massive travel chaos on the motorway for much of the day.

The northbound carriageway was closed for several hours and tailbacks of several miles were reported along the motorway.

Some 75 soldiers had been travelling in a nine-lorry convoy when the accident happened.

The troops, part of a Potential Non-Commissioned Officer course from the 2 Eastern Brigade Training Centre, Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin, were on their way to a training exercise in the Cooley Mountains, Co Louth.

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