RTE News coverage of Donegal Accident

amacachi

Elmo wrote: »

Do we know who was at fault that night? I know he was playing Bingo but older people also drink. I also realize that the Passat was carrying too many passengers.

I am trying to be as delicate as possible with that statement.

Even leaving aside any snideness which may be perceived in my post, it still doesn't explain why his picture is being left out if they're, as you say, being delicate.
The Passat wasn't just carrying too many passengers, it had just been involved in another collision which the driver left the scene of.

baldbear

amacachi wrote: »

The Passat wasn't just carrying too many passengers, it had just been involved in another collision which the driver left the scene of.

Did it actually leave the scene or hit the ladys car then nearly straight after that hit the poor auld fellas car?

Elmo wrote: »

Do we know who was at fault that night? I know he was playing Bingo but older people also drink. I also realize that the Passat was carrying too many passengers.

I am trying to be as delicate as possible with that statement.

The car carrying the youngsters appears to have been speeding. It had passed a car out at speed and that man actually flashed his lights at the Passat to slow down. It then hit a womans car who actually was at the same bingo as the poor elderly man Hugh Friel.The elderly man was a tee totaller and by all accounts a careful driver.

JonathanAnon

amacachi wrote: »

The Passat wasn't just carrying too many passengers, it had just been involved in another collision which the driver left the scene of.

Well like I said previously, a driver whose car was overtaken by the Passat said he flashed them to tell them to slow down. Both of the drivers were completely sober, by all independent accounts.

The Passat was overloaded (making the car more difficult to control) and travelling at excessive speed.

Did it actually leave the scene or hit the ladys car then nearly straight after that hit the poor auld fellas car?

From what I've read and heard on the radio, there seems to be a bit of confusion over this.. Some suggest that it was clipping this car that caused the Passat to go out of control and then hit the second car. BUT it seems there was a noticeable distance between the first minor impact and the second catastrophic impact, which would indicate that the young driver had in fact regained control of his vehicle.

Elmo

amacachi wrote: »

Even leaving aside any snideness which may be perceived in my post, it still doesn't explain why his picture is being left out if they're, as you say, being delicate.

Sorry, I didn't mean that the News was trying to be delicate I was stating I was trying to be delicate in my statement about Hugh Friel. I assume that the pictures was only due to their age.

Anyway it is a sad story and perhaps we should let it be.

amacachi

JonathanAnon wrote: »

From what I've read and heard on the radio, there seems to be a bit of confusion over this.. Some suggest that it was clipping this car that caused the Passat to go out of control and then hit the second car. BUT it seems there was a noticeable distance between the first minor impact and the second catastrophic impact, which would indicate that the young driver had in fact regained control of his vehicle.

Aye, when it shows the first car they hit on TV ya can see a good 100 yards if not more down the road and there was no sign of the cops even, so it must've been a bit more than that away.

buzzlink

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I think RTE dealt with the accident with adequate sensitivity.

I dont get the whole "this is a terrible tragedy that has befallen upon our community" type soundbytes that local priests, TDs etc etc deliver in these such incidents though.. Someone is to blame for this, and if as a state we are prepared to make criminals out of old people having a couple of pints and driving home from the local, then we should similarly be prepared to point the finger of blame where gratuitous speed (for the purpose of showing off) is concerned. I am course, speaking generally about these types of accidents, a number of which happened in my own locality and received similarly "sensitive" treatment on the news.

I totally agree. I understand that the investigation into this crash is still ongoing but certain things are clear: the passat was outrageously overcrowded with only the driver wearing a seatbelt, it was flashed by another driver sometime before the accident for overtaking at a reckless speed so we know it was speeding, it clipped the megane and whether it then continued speeding from the scene of that accident or whether it lost control before it hit the Corolla 150/200metres down the road we don't know and there's no point speculating - but for 8 people to die in that collision meant the car must have been travelling at a very high speed (I accept the weight from overcrowding would have attributed to this).

I thought this accident would finally make people stand up and say ENOUGH but it appears not. The coverage is so sensitive and politically correct - everyone is afraid of not being PC these days it's infuriating.

I feel so sad for all 8 who died and their families, I don't know how they're getting through it. but we can still feel sorry for them and at the same time condemn the fact that the car was overcrowded and speeding.

How else are we going to change driver attitudes if we don't all stand up and say this has gone too far?
Young lads (and older people too I freely ackowledge) driving too fast in cars that are far too powerful (apparently this was a 2.5 litre). I'm sick of driving in fear on the roads that I will run into someone driving too fast to control their car - i've witnessed one such accident and come across another and the scene of devastation was unthinkable.

Very disappointed in the coverage. I'm not saying they should come out with pitch forks and storm the hospital but constructive criticism instead of this overly sensitive reporting would be far more effective. I wonder if there had been 5 pensioners in the corolla on their way back from bingo would the reporting be different? All I know is that Hugh Friel could have been you or me or one of our parents, and it's a frightening thought because we are powerless in such a situation. Until we stand up and say we are not taking anymore of this instead of glorifying the offenders (speaking generally here - think of the guys playing chicken in Monaghan) things will never change and more lives will be lost.

JonathanAnon

I dont get the whole "this is a terrible tragedy that has befallen upon our community" type soundbytes that local priests

"Someone described it as a tsunami rolling across Inishowen overwhelming us all" - Fr. Neil McGoldrick at Mark McLaughlin's funeral

I wasnt far wrong, was I? Father McGoldrick, this wasnt a natural disaster... This was a man made disaster. I think the only person's perspective from whom the metaphor of a tsunami could be appropriate is poor old Hugh Friel. That's what he thought must have hit him as he drove home that night.

I'm not saying that I dont have huge sympathy for the families or the guys, who I'm sure were decent people. I just dont see what the point in air-brushing out the fact that they were in an overcrowded, speeding vehicle. We learn nothing by doing this..

And how is a 22 year old allowed to drive such a powerful car, especially considering he already had a conviction for dangerous driving in 2007(citation below).

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/motorist-had-warned-driver-to-slow-down-2257350.html

The Express

Good point there Jon, RTE ignored the 'elephant in the room' on this one; namely the amount crammed into the passat.

Typical, tip-toey RTE fare. Reminds me of a massive riot in Mullingar between 'two families'. We all knew what they meant but they didn't have the balls to say it, factually, like it is.

Standard RTE reporting on a story like this usually goes as follows:

1) Threadbare report of the incident, followed up with...
2) Regional correspondent being wheeled out to get a bit of stuff on the ground.
3) The parish priest. There's always one of these interviewed for some reason, always seems to be the mouthpiece of the community, regardless of whether he knows the victims or not.
4) Bit of overtime for some of the lads off Morning Ireland, doing a night shift to 'sense the palpable pain' in the community, to get another day out of the story. Then it's back to Aine/John in the studio....

Number 3 really gets my goat. You could put money on it that a priest will turn up when theres misery.

Anyway, RTE's standards, the way they are, will always find us googling or channel-hopping for the full story.

amacachi

That "Tsunami" word was used on the front page of the Sun today I think.

Also is anyone else sick of the use of the "since records began" line? Are they thinking that maybe there were lads bombing around in the 1850s in Imprezas?

Elmo

The Express wrote: »

Number 3 really gets my goat. You could put money on it that a priest will turn up when theres misery.

Weather you like it or not PPs are usually there when misery is about, after all they will have been in contact with the relatives of the victims at this time. Doctors, Nurses and Emergency people that worked at the scene and in the hospital are unlikely to comment on the incident.

JonathanAnon

Just heard the homily by the priest at one of the funerals this morning on Newstalk and he took young people to account for taking risks, not seeing how fragile life is, thinking they are invincible etc etc... Fair play to the guy, he could have just done the usual Father Wishy Washy speech that the priests have done in the previous funerals. He used the opportunity to try to do something constructive, and maybe by putting the blame where it should be, something can be learned from this awful tragedy...

goose2005

amacachi wrote: »

Not so much an RTÉ issue, but why had all the papers just got photos of the 7 highly intelligent young men who were in the one car but no picture of the innocent pensioner caught up in it?

Maybe the man's family didn't supply a photo.

amacachi wrote: »

That "Tsunami" word was used on the front page of the Sun today I think.

Also is anyone else sick of the use of the "since records began" line? Are they thinking that maybe there were lads bombing around in the 1850s in Imprezas?

I don't think proper records were taken until the early 60's. And there were lots of road accidents back in the horsey days.

monkeypants

I remember reading once about the number of people killed each years back in the 1970s and it was well over 500 people each year. Of course, back then they were still working on getting people to wear seatbelts. I think it might have been over 600 in 1974. Can't find any historical stats at all on the RSA website, which is surprising as it would show a continued drop in fatalities, only 239 last year. Donegal does jump out as a county, considering it's size and population.

JonathanAnon

The coverage of this has gone way over the top at this stage.. All the homilies were covered today.. and RTE had a reporter live outside one of the churches, and were interviewing people about what the priest said... The family of the next funeral have asked the media to stay away, which I think they should have done right at the start...

I mean we all know what it looks like to see people carrying the coffin out to the hearse, why do we need to see it?

monkeypants

Aye, it's getting ridiculous. Headline this morning; dead person to be buried later.