Road deaths at 71 as Garda blitz starts
A young woman died in a road smash with her car ending up in a ditch in Co Galway yesterday, as the death toll on the roads this year rose to over 70.
Gardai, meanwhile, warned that they would crack down on speeding and drink driving over the St Patrick's and Easter weekends.
The woman was found in her crashed car by a passing motorist, who alerted gardai and emergency services.
Two units of Tuam Fire Brigade rushed to the crash, and firefighters had to cut the woman out of the crashed vehicle.
The accident took place at bad bend on the Ballinrobe to Tuam road, not far from a side road leading to the old railway station at Castlegrove -- at around 8.30am yesterday morning.
The lone woman driver, aged 29, was fatally injured and taken to University College Hospital in Galway. She has not yet been named.
Gardai asked anyone with information to contact Tuam gardai at 093-70840.
In an earlier incident, on Monday, a pensioner died after apparently losing control of his 4x4 vehicle, which plunged into a tree-lined ditch.
The man was identified locally as Billy Dineen, 72, a livestock farmer who operated a holding outside Dunmanway, Co Cork.
Gardai said that the crash happened at Aultagh, Dunmanway, shortly before 10.30pm.
Meanwhile, gardai warned they will be mounting more checkpoints this weekend and over Easter to combat a "culture of drink driving (which) still exists".
Last Saint Patrick's weekend, over 4,000 people were caught speeding.
Ahead of the public holidays, gardai issued a reminder that inappropriate speed was the single greatest contributory factor to road deaths and serious injuries.
They said they would make use of mandatory alcohol testing at checkpoints and pointed out that 481 people were arrested for drink driving this time last year, with 445 over Easter. Once again, they warned people never to drink and drive; to have a nominated non-drinking driver or to use public transport, or taxi or hackneys if going out for a drink.
The death toll on the roads so far this year is 71 compared to 56 this time last year.
