Driver left critical after car collided with tree

By Pat Flynn

One man has been critically injured after his car collided with a tree in Co Clare yesterday morning.

The single-vehicle collision occurred at around 9.15am on the N68 Ennis to Kilrush road between Darragh and Lissycasey close to Caherea National School and about 9km from Ennis.

The man, understood to be an Indian national aged in his mid-20s, was travelling to work in Kilrush when his grey Toyota car crossed the road and crashed sideways into a tree. The vehicle was left facing front-down into the ditch following the collision that happened as the car neared a bend in the road.

It was misty in the area at the time, however it wasn’t immediately clear whether road conditions played a part in the crash.

Two ambulances and two units of the fire brigade from Ennis responded to the incident. Gardaí quickly set up diversions and rerouted traffic away from the area.

Fire crews used specialist cutting equipment to remove the driver’s side of the vehicle so they could safely access and remove the injured man.

It is understood that paramedics had requested a helicopter to airlift the casualty to hospital, however it was later decided at the scene that it would be faster to transport the man by road.

The ambulance, accompanied by a Garda patrol car, rushed the man to University Hospital Limerick for emergency treatment.

A section of the road was closed pending completion of an examination by forensic collision investigators. The road was reopened at around 3.15pm.

The vehicle was taken to a Garda compound where it will undergo a forensic examination.

A local man said: “It was hard to look at that in fairness but I keep thinking, if there was anyone in the passenger seat, they had no chance. The whole passenger side went right into the car. It was awful.”

Gardaí in Kilrush are appealing for witnesses or anyone who may have been on that stretch of road between 8.45am and 9.15am to contact them on 065 9080550, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.