Road deaths toll poised to fall
The number of people killed on our roads this year is set to be below 2007 levels if drivers continue to be vigilant, the Road Safety Authority has said.
There were 338 road deaths in 2007. So far, 268 have died in 2008 and the RSA believes that better enforcement and adherence to road safety laws by drivers appear to be behind the reduction.
However, despite the reduction, fatalities continue to occur, with a 24-year-old man killed in a crash involving a car and a lorry in Co Donegal. The crash happened on the N15 at Friarsbush, eight kilometres north of Donegal town. Fergal Whelan, 24, from Ballygawley, Co Sligo, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The young man was travelling south when his car collided with a lorry travelling in the opposite direction. The cab of the cattle lorry burst into flames in the impact.
He was the second young Sligo man to die in a crash last week.
On Monday, 22-year-old law student David Maye, from Culleenamore, Strandhill, was killed instantly when his car went out of control on black ice and collided with a lorry at Clevery, Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo. A male passenger in the car sustained minor injuries and was treated at Sligo General Hospital.
The tragedy led to calls by Fine Gael TD John Perry to upgrade what he described as a "treacherous" stretch of road.
There was another death on Tuesday afternoon when a woman pedestrian died in Co Kerry.
The accident happened at Kilflynn Cross on the main Tralee to Listowel Road when the woman was struck by a car around 5pm. She was named as Noreen Lane, 34, of Kilflynn, Tralee.
