Bride-to-be, teenager die as cold creates chaos on roads
The scene at Craan, Kildavin on the Bunclody Road near Carlow yesterday where dental nurse Mary Peare died after her car skidded on ice and crashed into an SUV. Photo: Thomas Nolan
Tuesday December 01 2009
A DENTAL nurse who was looking forward to her wedding in the summer and a young welder's apprentice were killed in separate horrific road crashes yesterday.
The floods and a cold snap exacerbated driving conditions across the country and more than 40 crashes were reported in the morning rush alone.
A lorry driver was also left fighting for his life.
Today, motorists are being urged to take care as conditions are expected to be just as dangerous because of freezing overnight temperatures.
The dental nurse who was due to get married in June, named locally as Mary Peare (28) of Bellefield Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, died after the car she was driving to work in Carlow town skidded on ice and crashed into an oncoming SUV shortly after 8am.
The accident occurred on a stretch of the N80 in Kilbride, Ballon, Co Carlow, that locals said was very icy after floodwater from an adjacent field froze overnight.
A witness who was driving behind Ms Peare said he saw her car go out of control on a patch of ice and career head-on into the SUV.
The driver of this vehicle was not injured. Another car had skidded on ice and crashed into a fence nearby before the accident but the driver was not seriously injured.
"The roads were absolutely treacherous. Cars were skidding all over the place," a resident told the Irish Independent last night.
Ms Peare's family, including her fiance and parents Willy and Joan Peare and brother William Peare, were said to be devastated by the horrific crash.
Gardai are also investigating a single-vehicle accident in Co Kerry that earlier claimed the life of a 19-year-old apprentice fitter.
The young man, named locally as Mark Flaherty from Ballyguiltenane, Glin, Co Limerick, died after the car he was driving hit a wall at Tarbert on the Ballylongford Road at about 5:30am yesterday.
Investigation
Gardai did not say whether road conditions were a factor in the accident, which remains under investigation.
A truck driver was also left fighting for his life at the intensive care unit at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital last night after the oil tanker he was driving jackknifed on the narrow Malahide Road near Campion's Pub in north Co Dublin early yesterday.
He had suffered severe head injuries in the crash and remained critically ill last night, a hospital spokeswoman said.
AA Roadwatch and the Road Safety Authority last night urged drivers to slow down and drive according to road conditions following a spate of multi-car pile-ups and collisions on the same roads in various parts of the country yesterday.
In Co Cork, seven cars were involved in a multi-car pile-up on the Dublin to Cork Road at Watergrasshill while five more cars collided into one another in Stepaside, Co Dublin yesterday.
Black ice is also being blamed for eight crashes on the M7 between Portlaoise and Kildare and six crashes on the N20 between Charleville and Mallow, Co Cork yesterday.
- Allison Bray
Irish Independent
