Worst road accident in the history of the state claims 8 in Donegal

-Corkie-

Ciar0468 wrote: »

WTF!!!!

Who said that the silver renault was not to blame, or the corolla driver was not drunk or on the wrong side of the road. STOP MAKING JUDGEMENT WHEN YOU DONT KNOW WHO CAUSED THE CRASH!!!!.


On a point not related to this particular crash:

1. Why do people drive home after drinking????
   1. No taxies (or way too expensive),
   2. no busses
   3. no public transport.
2. Who are the people who go out clubbing ect? young people.
3. Have you noticed how its rural isolated parts of the country which have the highest road fatalities??
4. True that people drive too fast in unsafe stretches of road, but people of all ages do it, Driving too slow is also just as dangerous btw. I have come around bends at normal (usually way under speed limit as i dont like bends) speeds to find I am on top of a car doing 20mph and have to slam on the breaks. There should be min as well as max speed limits.
5. Its not all down to young people. I am a young driver, but a female one. I have friends who are the boy racer type my friends would not dream of drinking and driving, I have never done it and never will, not even one drink. Its the older people I know who do this. (infact every person I know over 30 or so does this. some have even lost their licenses, got them back after two years and done it again.)
6. I have had close encounters on roads, not caused by speed or drink or carelessness, but by the older driver, who has no respect for new road laws:
   1. indicating( not doing so, too early or late or the wrong way)
   2. seatbelts (not wearing them)
   3. lights in dusk/dawn not on
   4. not dimming headlights
   5. how to drive a roundabout (especially a mulitlane one).
   6. PARKING( I had an old man drive into me in the car park, I was parked and out of my car buying a parking ticket, he still was saying that I drove into him when the garda arrived, only I had witnesses I would of been blamed. we cant pass judgement when we dont know what happened)
7. And as for cheap cars accross the border. What a load of rubbish. I recently bought my Mazda 3 in dublin as it was a lot cheaper(€2000 cheaper for same year, model ect) than accross the border, import duty also is crazy.
8. As for Garda in donegal!! I moved to letterkenny from westmeath two months ago and have never seen such a high police presence in my life. my friends who have come to visit have also commented on this.
9. I agree 8 in a car is madness, but it should be an advertisement for seatbelts save lives, thats it.
10. Road safety is not a matter for sensitivity, Grow up people, if we dont face the problem head on we will never fix it. we need to face the problems and not beat around the bush with sensitivity. I have friends who have died in road accidents and I know that they and their families would be happier that people learn from their deaths and that road deaths are decreased, instead of everyone tip-toeing around, afraid to face why road accidents and deaths actually happen.

You forget the bit about when they they hit the first car they fcuked of to make more carnage.

vectra

K-9 wrote: »

Well obviously. It's a bad enough story as it is, without claims of the driver being drunk or a hit and run.

You sound like you know they were trying to stop after hitting the first car, How can you be so certain

ootbitb

corky2004 wrote: »

Condolences to the families concerned

There is a major culture change required by Donegal motorists.
How can you explain having 8 adults in a car? Colliding with one car and driving on to collide with another? Everything about this stinks. You'd have to be naive to think it was just an 'accident'. No such thing as an 'accident'. Theres always a reason. Drink. Drugs. G0bsh1te behaviour.

It's not good enough to just put this down as 'one of those things'...

The fact that Jim McDaid was re-elected in the region, AFTER having being convicted of drunk driving the wrong way up a dual carriageway speaks volumes about Donegal peoples attitudes to driving practices......

....agree about McDaid , if he had any principles he would have resigned there and then. He should have been jailed , scandalous that he wasn't.
As for Donegal peoples attitudes in re-electing him, they seem to be in kilter with the rest of the country eg Beverley Cooper Flynn, etc.

Slunk

brandon_flowers wrote: »

I have a few things to say here...

8 families are tonight grieving after a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. A ninth family will feel distraught, inconsolable that their son, brother, grandson has had a part to play in these deaths be it the young lads fault or not.

Nobody knows for sure what happened except the crash scene investigators., and they are probably not sure yet either.

I came across this accident going to work about 5 minutes after it happened and only one garda had arrived http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2007/10/09/story44812.asp It is easily the most harrowing thing I have ever seen.
There is no way pictures of the cars should be shown at this early stage, maybe later but not now. Some of the families members may have yet to see a corpse.

One thing that did spring to mind was if the woman in the Megane broke her wrist one of the 8 in the other car was more than likely injured. The driver panics and heads for the hospital as fast as he can. 400 yards later and he ploughs into the next car which could have been in the middle of the road with only one headlight. Pure speculation of course but might as well speculate because every one else is too.

RIP

Paul Doherty, Ardagh, Ballyliffin 19

James Mc Eleney, Minaduff, Clonmany 23

Eamon Mc Daid, Cruckahheny, Ballymagan, Buncrana 22

Damien Mc Laughlin, Umrican, Buncrana 21

Mark Mc Laughlin, Ballynahone, Fahan 21

PJ Mc Laughlin, Rockstown, Tooban, Burnfoot 21

Kieran Sweeney, Ballyliffin, 19

Hugh Friel, Dunaff, Clonmany, 66

This is exactly when it needs to be shown while itfresh in peoples head. Not in a months time on page 15 of the star. Put it on the front page in the morning. Im sure the families, while still greiving, would support this if it made an impact on the decisions other peope made while at the wheel

Gary ITR

SARASON wrote: »

You forget the bit about when they they hit the first car they fcuked of to make more carnage.

Lads can we stick with facts, the above statement is not fact. I'm not fully sure this thread should even be in Motors so if we can't keep it civil and factual it'll be locked

brandon_flowers

Slunk wrote: »

This is exactly when it needs to be shown while itfresh in peoples head. Not in a months time on page 15 of the star. Put it on the front page in the morning. Im sure the families, while still greiving, would support this if it made an impact on the decisions other peope made while at the wheel

That is outrageous, how are you sure?

So a victims brother who is in London, coming home for the funeral picks up a paper and see's blood all over the car. He never got a chance to say goodbye, Im sure he doesn't want to see his brothers blood all over a tabloid.

No thanks.

robbie_998

Slunk wrote: »

This is exactly when it needs to be shown while itfresh in peoples head. Not in a months time on page 15 of the star. Put it on the front page in the morning. Im sure the families, while still greiving, would support this if it made an impact on the decisions other peope made while at the wheel

absolutely... We have already seen the megan and that looks to me like a gentle knock for what it is... thankfully the woman in it only got a broken wrist and not worse.

As far as reports say both the black passat and the red corolla are sitting in the same ditch... and from the sound of it in my best guess i'd say the passat is pretty fecking mangled.

It should definitely be shown so people can actually see the damage and maybe knock some common sense into them.

Stark

brandon_flowers wrote:

One thing that did spring to mind was if the woman in the Megane broke her wrist one of the 8 in the other car was more than likely injured. The driver panics and heads for the hospital as fast as he can.

Da ****? If you are ever in a road traffic accident, you never leave the scene until you've made sure the other party is okay. Call an ambulance if you have injuries in your own car.

-Corkie-

Onkle wrote: »

Lads can we stick with facts, the above statement is not fact. I'm not fully sure this thread should even be in Motors so if we can't keep it civil and factual it'll be locked

Shur the media said that they hit the first car and then went on to hit the next car.. I agree with you saying about the thread not being in motors, you have such varying opinions between friends of the dead etc and people who want a rant about the whole thing.

homer simpson

SARASON wrote: »

You forget the bit about when they they hit the first car they fcuked of to make more carnage.

Judging by your above post, youshould be phoning the guards and giving them the details of what you seen of the accidend because you talk as if you seen the accident first hand! Wise yourself up and re-read what you've posted, you are saying that they INTENTIONALLY crashed into the carolla to cause carnage!

There are a lot of posts here that should be deleted because they are mearly trolling! Look i beleive everyone here is in agreement that something needs to be done to stop these fatal accidents but its not due to the donegal people and the way they drive, it's from my point of view a rural thing, sure there are a number of bad drivers but there are bad drivers everywhere, not only donegal, there needs to be a countrywide campain of some sort made not a campain in donegal!

This has the potentail to be a decent thread if people stoped throwing about wild statements and accusations.

P.S. I'm still waiting on your reply to my post on post 51 (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66880190&postcount=51) which you conviently ignored flutteringbantum, and i predicted you would too!

brandon_flowers

Stark wrote: »

Da ****? If you are ever in a road traffic accident, you never leave the scene until you've made sure the other party is okay. Call an ambulance if you have injuries in your own car.

Pure random outside the box speculation. I personally don't think it happened but like I said above, who does?

K-9

tommyhaas wrote: »

Im not arguing that what they did was right, but in the context of thing, not wearing a seatbelt is a minor offence. Sure Dublin Bus dont even have seat belts on their buses. Also, it common enough for people to travel in the back of van etc. It might not be right, but its still common enough

Just on a side note to this, just in case it looks like I'm condoning this accident, rather than correcting internet assumptions, the Garda press conference said only the driver was wearing a seat belt.

The rest were all found outside the car. The Emergency services are in my thought as they reported it as the worst case they have ever seen.

The 2 big things we can learn from this case from the facts we know are:

1. Don't over load the car and

2. Wear a seat belt, including rear seat passengers.

Slunk

brandon_flowers wrote: »

That is outrageous, how are you sure?

So a victims brother who is in London, coming home for the funeral picks up a paper and see's blood all over the car. He never got a chance to say goodbye, Im sure he doesn't want to see his brothers blood all over a tabloid.

No thanks.

Fair point. But they should still show it pretty soon. Im sure the news will cover the funeral mass so maybe inclde it in that news bulletin. All family members should know by then and ita still fresh in peoples head. Its harsh but no point gettin local priest on talking, who will pay attention to him? I certainly wouldnt. Where as if i seen a mangled car id think twice about it

-Corkie-

homer_simpson wrote: »

Judging by your above post, youshould be phoning the guards and giving them the details of what you seen of the accidend because you talk as if you seen the accident first hand! Wise yourself up and re-read what you've posted, you are saying that they INTENTIONALLY crashed into the carolla to cause carnage!

There are a lot of posts here that should be deleted because they are mearly trolling! Look i beleive everyone here is in agreement that something needs to be done to stop these fatal accidents but its not due to the donegal people and the way they drive, it's from my point of view a rural thing, sure there are a number of bad drivers but there are bad drivers everywhere, not only donegal, there needs to be a countrywide campain of some sort made not a campain in donegal!

This has the potentail to be a decent thread if people stoped throwing about wild statements and accusations.

P.S. I'm still waiting on your reply to my post on post 51 (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66880190&postcount=51) which you conviently ignored flutteringbantum, and i predicted you would too!

I didnt see the accident so I wont be calling anybody. I didnt say they intentionally say they hit the second car but if they stopped after hitting the first car no lives would be lost. Simple as that.

emma82

I'm from Buncrana and the road (which alot of you speculators have NEVER driven on) which this collision happened on is treacherous! Its full of bends and sudden turns and even locals are weary of it. There is no way it should be a 80kph road!

The driver would not have been drink driving (which has been stated on more recent news releases) as these guys spend all their money on buying their bloody cars!!!

Knowing the distances that are involved between Clonmany & Buncrana a taxi would have been a fair hefty fee- one which I'm sure they would pay in hindsight but they are not so fortunate now to have hindsight.

Picture yourself as the driver- would you say no to all your mates. I know as teenager I wouldn't have! Peer pressure must have been a factor too.

Yes they were stupid to get in the car- yes the driver was stupid to let them all in but they are dead! The driver has to live with 8 deaths for the rest of his life- even if he makes it through- including the death of the older man who didn't make the choice to get in that car.

Please stop generalsing about Donegal drivers. I drive an hr to Dublin each day & believe me the driving I see is ALOT worse than what I see at home!!! Speeding, dangerous overtaking, driving through red lights, aggressive driving, tail gating- you name it.

Also I have lived away from home for nearly 10 yrs now & the ONLY time I'm breathalised by cops is at when I'm at home. The Garda are much more diligent in Inishowen than anywhere I've lived before- you just dont risk it (drink driving)- you will get caught. On that particular stretch of road there is just no way the cops could do speed checks as its just too dangerous & bendy!

I just feel so sorry for the huge devastaton this has caused the families as well as the whole town. The emergency personnel are all locals from the town & they had to face that horrific scene- my heart goes out to them. There will be more details released by local press I'd imagine. Highland radio & Inish Times/Inishowen Independent. As someone pointed out on a previous thread- most of you will have forgotten about this by next week or when it comes into the media again- Buncrana & Clonmany will NEVER forget this- same as all the ones before....

fryup

"safety experts" say that when a young male driver is in the company of another young male his chances of being in an accident increases by 20%

looks like that was 8 fold last night

robbie_998

K-9 wrote: »

2. Wear a seat belt, including rear seat passengers.

this one is the worst

people who sit the back of the car and think they dont need their seatbelt just because their in the back..... they say "sure, til be grand"... and scary enough a lot of people do it and they sometimes get away with it.

the rsa did put a whole ad campaign "get it on" which showed people jumping into the back of a car getting it on (both seatbelt and sexy time).

and this accident really shows it... only the driver was wearing his seatbelt.... he survived... as for the elderly gentle man in the corolla i guess he was just unfortunate.

K-9

vectra wrote: »

You sound like you know they were trying to stop after hitting the first car, How can you be so certain

The Guards seem to be pretty sure. That's why I quoted the news piece.

SARASON wrote: »

You forget the bit about when they they hit the first car they fcuked of to make more carnage.

As above.

angry_bob

amacachi wrote: »

If the driver survives I trust he'll have the full force of the law brought upon him.

If you get into a 1 ton vehicle which seats 5 people, with 8 people, you are completely disregardiing the law, and the safety of your passengers. Surely, this should be a case of manslaughter, at the least, if not murder.

fishfoodie

K-9 wrote: »

Just on a side note to this, just in case it looks like I'm condoning this accident, rather than correcting internet assumptions, the Garda press conference said only the driver was wearing a seat belt.

The rest were all found outside the car. The Emergency services are in my thought as they reported it as the worst case they have ever seen.

The 2 big things we can learn from this case from the facts we know are:

1. Don't over load the car and

2. Wear a seat belt, including rear seat passengers.

The first think I thought of when I heard that there were Eight, Eight !!, people in the car, was that there was no chance that most of them were wearing belts.

How do you put on a belt when you have one, or two others sitting ontop of you ??

That in a nutshell is why there are 7 corpses on slabs today in Donegal.

One of my abiding memories from my childhood is of a news program or documentary during the troubles, from when I was only I kid; & see footage of an ambulance man, shovelling human remains onto a stretcher. Even at maybe 9 or 10, those pictures changed my foolish boyish nationalistic ideas of the IRA & other terrorists into something real & truly horrific !

Only images like that could change the minds of people who think they are immortal & that accidents only happen to other people.

Present a 19 year old with the image of their mother having to identify what's left after being thrown out of a car at 80 kmph & you have a better chance of changing their behaviour, than a thousand hours of TV RS ads.

As much as I feel for the families of these boys; I really hope some of the parents have the strength the grasp the opportunity to save some lives; & turn some people around, the way the Parrys did after their son was killed in Warrington by the IRA.

homer simpson

SARASON wrote: »

I didnt see the accident so I wont be calling anybody. I didnt say they intentionally say they hit the second car but if they stopped after hitting the first car no lives would be lost. Simple as that.

No you said....

SARASON wrote: »

You forget the bit about when they they hit the first car they fcuked of to make more carnage.

That sounds nothing like they hit the second car but if they stopped after hitting the first car no lives would be lost?

Besides according to most reports i heard / read about the accident, they say it happened in the one accident. simpilified that implies that they hit the first car, side swiped it, then around the corner hit the corolla, all the one incident!

robbie_998

pic of the passat now released on - http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eight-die-in-worst-crash-on-record-465228.html

im speechless

magicbastarder

don't forget most post-crash pictures of cars are also after they've taken the jaws of life to it, often completely taking the roof off; so what you see is not how it looked in the immediate aftermath.

fishfoodie

magicbastarder wrote: »

don't forget most post-crash pictures of cars are also after they've taken the jaws of life to it, often completely taking the roof off; so what you see is not how it looked in the immediate aftermath.

7 of the 8 people in the car were 'ejected' in the cold technical language of the investigators.

I doubt the jaws of life were required.

K-9

fishfoodie wrote: »

The first think I thought of when I heard that there were Eight, Eight !!, people in the car, was that there was no chance that most of them were wearing belts.

How do you put on a belt when you have one, or two others sitting ontop of you ??

That in a nutshell is why there are 7 corpses on slabs today in Donegal.

One of my abiding memories from my childhood is of a news program or documentary during the troubles, from when I was only I kid; & see footage of an ambulance man, shovelling human remains onto a stretcher. Even at maybe 9 or 10, those pictures changed my foolish boyish nationalistic ideas of the IRA & other terrorists into something real & truly horrific !

Only images like that could change the minds of people who think they are immortal & that accidents only happen to other people.

Present a 19 year old with the image of their mother having to identify what's left after being thrown out of a car at 80 kmph & you have a better chance of changing their behaviour, than a thousand hours of TV RS ads.

As much as I feel for the families of these boys; I really hope some of the parents have the strength the grasp the opportunity to save some lives; & turn some people around, the way the Parrys did after their son was killed in Warrington by the IRA.

Tbh, the case is so bad, the Garda Press Conference from today should be recorded and listened to in every secondary school not alone in Donegal, but nationwide.

Sometimes less is more! The Guards obviously couldn't say too much, but it was descriptive enough.

I'll try and get the piece on the website.

magicbastarder

fishfoodie wrote: »

I doubt the jaws of life were required.

there's no roof on the car, if i read the photo right, and the driver was still inside. i imagine the basic rules of triage is you rescue the living first, so they probably cut the roof off to facilitate getting the driver out.

fishfoodie

K-9 wrote: »

Tbh, the case is so bad, the Garda Press Conference from today should be recorded and listened to in every secondary school not alone in Donegal, but nationwide.

Sometimes less is more! The Guards obviously couldn't say too much, but it was descriptive enough.

I'll try and get the piece on the website.

Good idea.

I vaguely remember after the Stardust the authorities made a big push telling teenagers to always locate the fire exits when they went somewhere they hadn't been before.

They really have to take these tragic opportunities* to ram the message home.

Its a shame this will all be forgotten by September when the schools are back.

* Yes, I know its a horrible choice of words

Eric Cartman

Just had a look at hi res pics of the cars in work , the passat had different tread patterns on the tyres and they were bald so no wonder it crashed

magicbastarder

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Just had a look at hi res pics of the cars in work

link?

-Chris-

homer_simpson wrote: »

This has the potentail to be a decent thread if people stoped throwing about wild statements and accusations.

+1,000

I'm also of the opinion that this thread possibly shouldn't be in Motors (there are already several other threads about this across boards, discussing it from various angles and at this stage there probably isn't much need beyond a condolences thread) and that it certainly shouldn't be disrespectful toward the memories of the recently deceased and their families.

There is no issue with a robust debate about road safety in general and the (concretely known) facts of this case, but there's a very clear line of civility, and if it's crossed, there will be infractions and bannings as appropriate.