Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Please note that it is not permitted to have referral links posted in your signature. Keep these links contained in the appropriate forum. Thank you.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055940817/signature-rules
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Four young men killed in Donegal crash

24

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,474 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Its been noted already, but your stat doesn't say what you think it says.

    Even if it was 11% of all accidents then 1/10th of accidents happening in 1/6th of the day would indicate that there must be more dangerous period in the day...

    But its not even 11% of all road traffic accidents, its 11% of accidents that had a fatality and also had a driver that had consumed alcohol, a small subset of the total road traffic accidents.

    Your stat just says that the morning checkpoints are looking in the wrong place.
    The figure is relevant since it's a time of day when people don't expect alcohol to be a factor in fatal collisions. It's a wake up call to say that alcohol from the night before can be in your system the next morning and dangerously so, a fact that comes as news to some people. Most people wouldn't dream of driving immediately after drinking alcohol but wouldn't give a second thought to doing it the next morning.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭jam_mac_jam


    blackwhite wrote: »
    So 11% of fatal accidents involving alcohol occur in a time window that comprises 16.67% of the day?


    And 89% of fatal accidents involving alcohol occur in the other 83.33%?


    Surely that suggests there are other 4-hour windows during the day that have much worse instances of alcohol-related fatalities, and should be the primary focus of drink-driving enforcement?



    Maybe they are the focus, do you have some numbers on what times the Gardare out?


  • Posts: 24,714 [Deleted User]


    Its been noted already, but your stat doesn't say what you think it says.

    Even if it was 11% of all accidents then 1/10th of accidents happening in 1/6th of the day would indicate that there must be more dangerous period in the day...

    But its not even 11% of all road traffic accidents, its 11% of accidents that had a fatality and also had a driver that had consumed alcohol, a small subset of the total road traffic accidents.

    Your stat just says that the morning checkpoints are looking in the wrong place.

    It also doesn’t give an indication if the alcohol had anything to do with the crash, there is without doubt some of them 11% where the driver with alcohol was not in anyway at fault and even if he/she had no alcohol then the outcome would not have changed. Also how much alcohol did they have? Was it a tiny amount that makes no difference or were they well over the limit??

    Bagging in the morning is real bottom of the barrel stuff interfering in people tying to get to work in the morning.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,881 ✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Another Donegal bashing thread , look at the deaths recently around the country on the roads not just a Donegal issue. But the lack of any public transport at night means full cars driving home at night and most younger people I know won't drink and drive.
    I hate driving in Dublin there not patience by drivers there. Your just stuck in traffic but standards are just as bad.

    Couldn’t disagree more. The amount of risk taking, speeding, aggressiveness, acting the maggot and general nuisance driving in Donegal makes Dublin look like Driving Miss Daisy. Drivers in Dublin are far more patient and much more likely to let you in to traffic, merge properly, wear seatbelts and not act aggressively.

    I was tailgated and dangerously overtaken twice in Donegal in one weekend by ignorant mouth breathers I had kids in the car. Hasn’t happened to me in years in Dublin.


  • Registered Users Posts: 108 ✭✭ItsLikeThis


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    Another Donegal bashing thread , look at the deaths recently around the country on the roads not just a Donegal issue. But the lack of any public transport at night means full cars driving home at night and most younger people I know won't drink and drive.
    I hate driving in Dublin there not patience by drivers there. Your just stuck in traffic but standards are just as bad.

    Couldn’t disagree more. The amount of risk taking, speeding, aggressiveness, acting the maggot and general nuisance driving in Donegal makes Dublin look like Driving Miss Daisy. Drivers in Dublin are far more patient and much more likely to let you in to traffic, merge properly, wear seatbelts and not act aggressively.

    I was tailgated and dangerously overtaken twice in Donegal in one weekend by ignorant mouth breathers I had kids in the car. Hasn’t happened to me in years in Dublin.

    Denial is a big part of the problem up here. Blame the roads, guards, lack of public transport etc, but don't mention the culture of dangerous driving. Time to call a spade a spade...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,605 ✭✭✭gctest50


    .......

    Bagging in the morning is real bottom of the barrel stuff interfering in people tying to get to work in the morning.

    Why ? if yer over the limit yer over it

    Great craic anyway, you'd be like "day off for you today "


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,810 ✭✭✭The J Stands for Jay


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    Drivers in Dublin are far more patient and much more likely to let you in to traffic, merge properly, wear seatbelts and not act aggressively.

    This doesn't resemble the Dublin I know.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,822 ✭✭✭Comhrá


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    Drivers in Dublin are far more patient and much more likely to let you in to traffic, merge properly, wear seatbelts and not act aggressively.

    Must be some other Dublin?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,881 ✭✭✭John_Rambo


    McGaggs wrote: »
    This doesn't resemble the Dublin I know.

    The Dublin you imagine.

    Do you drive in Dublin? Contrary to peoples ideas of what city driving is Dublin is definitely gridlocked at times, but you don’t hear beeping horns, you don’t see people crashing in to each other, you do see people letting people out from minor roads, you don’t see people aggressively overtaking people and you don’t see people driving around with no seatbelt with the seat belt alarm overridden.

    Sorry to burst your little hate-bubble lads.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,495 ✭✭✭✭bucketybuck


    TheChizler wrote: »
    The figure is relevant since it's a time of day when people don't expect alcohol to be a factor in fatal collisions. It's a wake up call to say that alcohol from the night before can be in your system the next morning and dangerously so, a fact that comes as news to some people. Most people wouldn't dream of driving immediately after drinking alcohol but wouldn't give a second thought to doing it the next morning.

    The discussion taking place was regarding guards stopping cars going to work in the morning as opposed to having those resources be on the roads at night instead.

    But I would agree the stats are relevant, they show clearly that the period from 7am to 11am already has less than expected fatal RTA's involving alcohol, and so that there are other periods of the day where the resources would be better spent.

    I would have assumed that the period from 7am to 11am should have more than the average number of accidents considering the traffic volumes would be higher during those hours due to commuting. The fact that there are actually less just reinforces further the opinion that resources directed there are being wasted.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,715 ✭✭✭corks finest


    Read it here ref stats ,,


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,715 ✭✭✭corks finest


    JPCN1 wrote: »
    gctest50 wrote: »
    11% of fatal collisions in which a driver had consumed alcohol, occurred between the hours of 7am and 11am

    Were the 11% over the limit or just had trace alcohol?
    Drugs?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,715 ✭✭✭corks finest


    TrailerBob wrote: »
    It’s all too easy to pass judgement from afar. There’s 4 families grieving today, and many more friends and relatives besides. You can be sure that those families will be reflecting on those same questions, and don’t need the rest of us condemning their actions (that we don’t know about) and proclaiming x,y, and z. There was a man killed in Monasterevin too, but I don’t see anyone saying that Kildare needs to look at itself.. and I’m originally from Kildare
    I lived in Derry for yonks and can quite honestly say that once u cross the border into the south it's a whole different driving experience-yes there are loopers in the be 6 counties also, but anyone who has lived / drove in Donegal,say Letterkenny-Derry, Derry to Bundoran it's like wacky fcuking races at times


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,811 ✭✭✭joe40


    I lived in Derry for yonks and can quite honestly say that once u cross the border into the south it's a whole different driving experience-yes there are loopers in the be 6 counties also, but anyone who has lived / drove in Donegal,say Letterkenny-Derry, Derry to Bundoran it's like wacky fcuking races at times

    I live in Donegal and I do agree some of the driving is atrocious, especially the culture of boy racers (and some girls) driving older, high powered cars often without seatbelts.
    I don't know the details of this crash but I would assume speed was a significant factor. While roads are poor, this is no excuse it is up to the driver it to drive accordingly.

    I don't however think this is purely a Donegal issue, it is a rural issue. I have observed the same mindset in Mayo, Sligo, Monaghan and the North. Much of the crazy driving I have observed on the roads you mention have been northern reg cars.
    I'm not making excuses it is a very real problem and costing lives.
    There has been good work done with schools but sometimes I think there isn't the desire to come down hard on motoring offenses. What other crimes in Ireland has cost more lives. Gangland shootings don't come close.


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 19,197 Mod ✭✭✭✭slave1


    Very sad, I go for a long weekend golfing every year in Donegal, it's such a great spot but Lordie Lordie Lordie the amount of tyre marks on roads from antics is unreal compared to any other part of the country, not just the straight stretches either often through bends and right up to sharp corners, always catches our eye when up there.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    I know this may sound insenstive and I it's awful that so many young lives are taken on our roads especially in Donegal. I was thinking though why aren't insurance costs through the roof up in Donegal like they are for young drivers for example surely they should be paying more in Donegal if their accident rate is far higher.

    If the accident rate in Dublin is far lower than anywhere else in the country which I'm guessing it is as from what I hear on the news is most fatal road accidents are down the country then why aren't insurance costs lower in Dublin. If insurance companies can discriminate based on age and gender then why can't they discriminate based on where you live too.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 816 ✭✭✭Gazzmonkey


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    The Dublin you imagine.

    Do you drive in Dublin? Contrary to peoples ideas of what city driving is Dublin is definitely gridlocked at times, but you don’t hear beeping horns, you don’t see people crashing in to each other, you do see people letting people out from minor roads, you don’t see people aggressively overtaking people and you don’t see people driving around with no seatbelt with the seat belt alarm overridden.

    Sorry to burst your little hate-bubble lads.

    Erm…. you blew the hate bubble yourself with your previous comments.

    BTW I have huge experience driving all over the place and Dublin would be the worst for sheer bad manners, serious amount of cock stains on those roads.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,791 ✭✭✭extra-ordinary_


    R.I.P.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,758 ✭✭✭Laois_Man


    I know the spot well
    You can imagine the speed they were probably doing belting down this long stretch - or about to head up it - and hitting the bridge

    https://www.google.com/maps/@55.1284557,-8.2235123,3a,75y,71.01h,74.24t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1sbwWp83JP8unVd-GCL2UPgQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i48


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,556 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    Laois_Man wrote: »
    I know the spot well
    You can imagine the speed they were probably doing belting down this long stretch - or about to head up it - and hitting the bridge

    https://www.google.com/maps/@55.1284557,-8.2235123,3a,75y,71.01h,74.24t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1sbwWp83JP8unVd-GCL2UPgQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i48

    Any chance you could link to the location on the map bit rather than streetview? I can't get it to convert back on the tablet.

    Heartbreaking watching the reports on the news. RIP to them all.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,758 ✭✭✭Laois_Man


    HeidiHeidi wrote: »
    Any chance you could link to the location on the map bit rather than streetview? I can't get it to convert back on the tablet.

    Like this

    https://www.google.com/maps/dir/55.128482,-8.2232261/55.1284694,-8.2233347/@55.1295078,-8.2451389,13.5z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,881 ✭✭✭John_Rambo


    Gazzmonkey wrote: »
    Erm…. you blew the hate bubble yourself with your previous comments.

    I love Donegal, hate Donegal people dying unnecessarily.
    Gazzmonkey wrote: »
    BTW I have huge experience driving all over the place and Dublin would be the worst for sheer bad manners, serious amount of cock stains on those roads.

    Bar talk waffle and spoof :rolleyes:. If people drove in Irish cities as aggressively as they did in Donegal there'd be carnage and the cities would be in constant gridlock from crashes.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,280 ✭✭✭✭Eric Cartman


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    Couldn’t disagree more. The amount of risk taking, speeding, aggressiveness, acting the maggot and general nuisance driving in Donegal makes Dublin look like Driving Miss Daisy. Drivers in Dublin are far more patient and much more likely to let you in to traffic, merge properly, wear seatbelts and not act aggressively.

    I was tailgated and dangerously overtaken twice in Donegal in one weekend by ignorant mouth breathers I had kids in the car. Hasn’t happened to me in years in Dublin.

    I wont defend dublin driving in the slightest as it has its issues , but the border county mentality is completely different. Drink and drug driving is still completely acceptable up there, and the attitude of young drivers especially is to treat every journey like youre taking part in a rally. That and the standard of vehicle maintainence being much lower (one of the top 5 counties for non nct'd cars on the road) Combined with a lack of road gritting, neglected road maintenance and a lack of street lighting it is a much more dangerous area to drive, heightened by the locals attitude.

    Most of these incidents are completely preventable. Lower garda enforcement due to a lack of resources has led to a belief that driving dangerously defective cars in a dangerous manor on dangerous roads is just part and parcel of living up there. This attitude needs to be stamped out and a targeted effort by gardai, a targeted advertisement campaign by the RSA and a targeted education campaign in schools is urgently required to address the issue.

    You can go on to the 'garda twitter' thread any day of the week here and as soon as you read 'car with no nct, on a learners permit , bald tyres etc... doing twice the speed limit ' and the majority of the time its accompanied by 'donegal road policing unit'


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,657 ✭✭✭Doctor Jimbob


    Might be worth leaving the speculation, condemnation, and arguing over which county has worse drivers until the circumstances have been established. Even if people's suspicions turn out to be correct some of the discussion on here is fairly tasteless.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,472 ✭✭✭brooke 2


    Tragically Donegal in the news again for the wrong reason.Why is this happening ?.Just can't image the devastation for those families tonight.

    Saw a picture of the road on the news tonight. Looks like an absolute deathtrap. :mad:

    Condolences to the families and loved ones of the four people lost in this tragic accident. They seem to have been lovely young men who were contributing so much to their communities.

    May they rest in peace.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,858 ✭✭✭✭average_runner


    TrailerBob wrote: »
    I don't disagree but the problem here is, the headline says Donegal, and everyone jumps to conclusions. Meanwhile 4 familes are torn apart while people pre-judge the actions of the driver without knowing the facts. Maybe it was drink, maybe it was speed, Maybe it was a deer... Stereotypes can damage as much as hiding


    Must be reason why people jump to conclusions?
    A county earns a reputation for a reason.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,472 ✭✭✭brooke 2


    Especially considering the roads in that area were slippy last night with black ice. They may not have really thought they were, or maybe the driver misjudged the car's handling with 4 people in it as well as the slippy roads.

    The road from Bundoran to Letterkenny and the road from Donegal Town to Killybegs are the only two main roads there is. The rest are built as basic roads and just tarred over again when bits sink too far into the bog. I know I've misjudged a dip in the road at night before. There's a dip in the road between where I live and the nearest main town. I know it's there because I drive that road daily, but you wouldn't be able to tell it's bad just by looking at in when driving. It's only when everyone hits their heads off the roof that you notice it.

    There's also a lot of wildlife in the area and someone encounters a deer on a regular basis. They could have been trying to avoid something.

    Maybe excessive speed was involved. However, knowing these roads, there's also a possibility that the road conditions caused it too.

    From what I saw of that road on the news tonight, it was lethal!! :mad: Downhill on a curved road for some distance, and definitely a dip, such as you described above, at the bottom, just before the accident appears to have happened. When I originally saw it this evening, I thought there was a large hole in the road, but, on closer inspection, I noticed that it was a pool of water. If there was ice on the road, as some say there was in Donegal last night, unless they were crawling home, those young men did not stand a chance.

    I realise speed can often contribute to such accidents, but the conditions of some country roads make them veritable deathtraps. :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,472 ✭✭✭brooke 2


    TrailerBob wrote: »
    It’s all too easy to pass judgement from afar. There’s 4 families grieving today, and many more friends and relatives besides. You can be sure that those families will be reflecting on those same questions, and don’t need the rest of us condemning their actions (that we don’t know about) and proclaiming x,y, and z. There was a man killed in Monasterevin too, but I don’t see anyone saying that Kildare needs to look at itself.. and I’m originally from Kildare

    +100.

    I can't imagine the devastation in all those homes tonight. Sudden deaths of loved ones just rip the core out of you. :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,492 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    John_Rambo wrote: »
    driving around with no seatbelt with the seat belt alarm overridden.

    Can anyone explain this to me in general, not this specific incident? WTF is the attraction of driving with no seat belt? Some kind of macho daredevil nonsense?


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,472 ✭✭✭brooke 2


    And? I'm not explaining why Donegal has such high accident rates. I'm explaining why, in this case, I wouldn't jump straight into the "they were driving like lunatics" comments.

    Especially after you see that crap road on which they were killed. :mad:

    I must admit that my initial reaction when I heard about the accident, was 'Donegal again!' :rolleyes: But, when I saw the road and heard about the possible conditions - black ice, deep dip at the bottom of the hill - I paused for thought. That road did look like a death trap.

    Regardless, four young men, who seemed to have achieved a great deal and contributed so much to their communities in their relatively short lives,
    are now no more. My heart goes out to their families and loved ones.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 472 ✭✭Turbohymac


    Sadly it's a fairly lawless county ..drove trucks UP there last year and even minibus drivers pass you on continuous white lines. Dark night and .bends coming up. Sure who cares well be grand. And the bus full of passengers... let alone the younger people.. as drivers there all mostly a different breed..very genuine nice people..but as for their mad driving they wouldn't last a day in other parts of Ireland..but as for more gardai and checkpoints..well that won't bring any victims back or change the mindset..the actual drivers need to cop on.maybe speed limiters to all vehicles up that side would cure most of the issues.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,472 ✭✭✭brooke 2


    I lived in Derry for yonks and can quite honestly say that once u cross the border into the south it's a whole different driving experience-yes there are loopers in the be 6 counties also, but anyone who has lived / drove in Donegal,say Letterkenny-Derry, Derry to Bundoran it's like wacky fcuking races at times


    Anyone living in north County Dublin, Meath, Louth, could tell you about the insane motorway driving of northern registered cars. Maybe we get all the 'loopers'!! :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 269 ✭✭thadg


    brooke 2 wrote: »
    From what I saw of that road on the news tonight, it was lethal!! :mad: Downhill on a curved road for some distance, and definitely a dip, such as you described above, at the bottom, just before the accident appears to have happened. When I originally saw it this evening, I thought there was a large hole in the road, but, on closer inspection, I noticed that it was a pool of water. If there was ice on the road, as some say there was in Donegal last night, unless they were crawling home, those young men did not stand a chance.

    I realise speed can often contribute to such accidents, but the conditions of some country roads make them veritable deathtraps. :(

    And no real damage done to the front of the car, except the front reg missing, looks like the roof/side took the main impact


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,478 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    You really don’t have nearly as much of a chance in the likes of that Corolla compared to a modern car with ESP, seatbelt reminders, curtain airbags and stronger passenger cell.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,811 ✭✭✭joe40


    http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2016/0804/806861-we-decide-who-lives-or-dies/

    This is a great radio documentary. I'm from Donegal and although no one likes to have their county criticised there are issues with driving behaviour. We are not the only county, with this problem but it is real.
    That is such a waste of life last night but would it not be good to take lessons from this, to help prevent reoccurence.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 269 ✭✭thadg


    colm_mcm wrote: »
    You really don’t have nearly as much of a chance in the likes of that Corolla compared to a modern car with ESP, seatbelt reminders, curtain airbags and stronger passenger cell.

    To be fair them corollas were a good car to stay going but they are a biscuit tin.


  • Registered Users Posts: 672 ✭✭✭Ashleigh1986


    Donegal has a connection with car rally's .
    A lot of the people killed in car accidents are young men .
    No matter what kind of car they drive they think of themselves as rally drivers. I've driven up to dungloe. Couldnt beleive the amount of tyre markings on the roads . Young men take chances on our roads .
    I've done it . Thinking I was bombproof .
    Such a sad waste .
    May they rest in peace .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,232 ✭✭✭TheRiverman


    Timeline: Deaths on Donegal roads in recent years
    The county has one of worst death tolls in the State – eight have died so far this year
    Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 20:52 Updated: about 14 hours ago
    Sorcha Pollak
    Gardaí at the scene of a road accident where two people died and three were injured in Eastend, Bundoran, Co Donegal. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
    Gardaí at the scene of a road accident where two people died and three were injured in Eastend, Bundoran, Co Donegal. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire


    Share to Facebook
    Share to Twitter
    Share to Email App

    Donegal continues to suffer among the highest number of road deaths in the State.

    Below is a timeline of some of the fatal road incidents in the county over the past 10 years.

    January 28th, 2019: Four young men, understood to be in their 20s, died following a single-vehicle road crash at a bridge at Meenaclady between Gaoth Dobhair and Gortahork in west Donegal. The scene of the crash is close to where a number of other fatal incidents have taken place over the years.

    August 19th, 2018: Shiva Devine and Conor McAleer, both in their 20s, died after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a wall and then a lamp-post at Eastend in the seaside village of Bundoran at 3.25am on Sunday. Three others were seriously injured in the collision. A sixth uninjured passenger presented himself to Bundoran Garda station four hours after the incident.

    July 4th, 2018: Eddie McIntyre (56) was killed after his motorcycle collided with a car on the R238 between Burnfoot and Buncrana.

    June 8th, 2018: Jamie Doherty (14) died when the car he was driving spun out of control on a dirt road and crashed at Tullyally at Upper Clar on the Inishowen peninsula.

    March 14th, 2018: Bernie Fullerton (59) died after she was struck by a passing vehicle outside Buncrana on the Inishowen peninsula on the R238 Buncrana to Carndonagh road.

    March 10th, 2018: Pedestrian Emmett McClelland died after being struck by a car in Bridgend.

    Victims of fatal Donegal car crash are named
    Overloading of cars in Donegal a ‘worrying development’
    Dangerous driving in Donegal: ‘It is a long-standing culture’

    January 26th, 2018: Cyclist Noel McDermott (43) died after a collision with a car at Ards Beg in Gortahork.

    January 12th, 2018: William “Willie” Wilson (68) died on the Lifford to Letterkenny road at Drumoghill after the tractor he was driving collided with a car.

    December 27th, 2017: Sean Heraghty (26) died after he was struck by a car on the outskirts of Dunfanaghy in the early hours of the morning.

    April 29th, 2017: Nathan Fullerton (17) and Nathan Farrell (18) were killed after the vehicle they were travelling in struck a wall and then a tree on the Redcastle side of Quigley’s Point, Inishowen. Three other men were injured.

    February 20th, 2017: John McLaughlin died following a two-car collision at Strand Head on the main Malin to Carndonagh road.

    December 26th, 2016: Bartley Doohan died after the car he was driving crashed on a minor road at Curransport in Gortahork.

    December 23rd, 2016: Amy Loughrey (25) from Derry died after the car she was driving collided with another vehicle at Glebe in Fahan while she was driving home from work.

    September 21st, 2016: Kiara Baird (19) and Maria Wallace (38) died after the car in which they were passengers hit a pole at Glenfin road, Ballybofey. The man driving the vehicle was later charged with dangerous driving.

    August 30th, 2016: A 72-year-old man died after his car collided with another vehicle on the Lifford to Letterkenny road.

    July 27th, 2016: Three friends – Steven McGrath (19), Theresa Robinson (20) and Kaylem Ó Murachaidh (19) – were killed in a head-on collision between two cars on a back road in Corravaddy in the early hours of the morning.

    July 27th, 2016: Dermot Boyle (16) and Barney McGinley (28) were killed when the car they were travelling in struck a van on the dual carriageway outside Letterkenny.

    March 23rd, 2016: A 30-year-old woman died after a two-vehicle collision on the N13 at Castleforward, Newtowncunningham.

    November 13th, 2015: Kevin McClintock (32) died when his car collided with an oncoming vehicle on the N13 at Killyvery, killing youth worker Orla O’Reilly (28). McClintock’s car veered on to the wrong side of the road before hitting her vehicle.

    October 17th, 2015: Adrian Mullan was killed when his bicycle collided with a van in Inishowen.

    July 11th, 2010: Eight men were killed in a road crash when two cars collided near Buncrana. Seven were aged 19-23 while the eighth was a 66-year-old man on his way back from bingo. The incident was Ireland’s worst ever single road crash.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,813 ✭✭✭Noveight


    Absolutely tragic. Would bring your mind straight back to that crash in 2010.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,232 ✭✭✭TheRiverman


    brooke 2 wrote: »
    Saw a picture of the road on the news tonight. Looks like an absolute deathtrap. :mad:

    Condolences to the families and loved ones of the four people lost in this tragic accident. They seem to have been lovely young men who were contributing so much to their communities.

    May they rest in peace.

    There are many deathtrap roads in Ireland.The road I live on and surrounding roads are deathtraps if people drive recklessly on them.They are 80km max speed limit roads,but very dangerous to drive on many of them above 50km.

    So sad seeing the photos of those four fine young men on the news.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,040 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    tcawley29 wrote: »
    Why wouldn't they. All the handouts they give to people who are too lazy to work and plan to be on the dole for life, it would be nice for the tax payers to get something back. The government will also get some of this money back anyways on tax spent on fuel/vehicle maintenance/drivers wages.

    When you have a community that are becoming house drinkers or even starting to lose their social lives it does cause depression which is on the rise in rural areas because people do not have access to public transport to have a social life.

    Personally I left myself. I couldn't stick living like that and I have absolutely no plans to return to the country any time soon either.

    The reason why there is no late night transport is the same as why there is no daytime public transport. The ribbon development of rural Ireland means that public transport can't work. Where does the bus stop go when the houses are spread along 5km of road? If you stop at every house the journey takes too long and if you stop at the Mary's house Joe will be mad and not use it out of spite and since footpaths are impossible on most rural roads walking to the bus stop would be dangerous because of the speed of the traffic, who are most likely locals.

    If you get out of the pub at 12am and then have to spend the next 3 hours going up and down every boreen to drop the other customers off you'll be complaining about the journey taking too long, but that's because of how you developed your area.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,715 ✭✭✭corks finest


    joe40 wrote: »
    I lived in Derry for yonks and can quite honestly say that once u cross the border into the south it's a whole different driving experience-yes there are loopers in the be 6 counties also, but anyone who has lived / drove in Donegal,say Letterkenny-Derry, Derry to Bundoran it's like wacky fcuking races at times

    I live in Donegal and I do agree some of the driving is atrocious, especially the culture of boy racers (and some girls) driving older, high powered cars often without seatbelts.
    I don't know the details of this crash but I would assume speed was a significant factor. While roads are poor, this is no excuse it is up to the driver it to drive accordingly.

    I don't however think this is purely a Donegal issue, it is a rural issue. I have observed the same mindset in Mayo, Sligo, Monaghan and the North. Much of the crazy driving I have observed on the roads you mention have been northern reg cars.
    I'm not making excuses it is a very real problem and costing lives.
    There has been good work done with schools but sometimes I think there isn't the desire to come down hard on motoring offenses. What other crimes in Ireland has cost more lives. Gangland shootings don't come close.
    I'd agree both drivers north and south around the border areas are loopy once in a car


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Hate to interject on the circle-jerk that is going here, but Donegal is not the worst county for road deaths.


    Monaghan: 4, pop 60,483
    Mayo 7, pop 130507
    Donegal 7, pop 159,192
    Tipperary 7, pop 159,553


    Considering there is no motorways and few National Primary Roads, Donegal has not been able to benefit from the reductions these types of roads bring.

    There was absolute carnage in the 90s in other counties but these figures were brought down with improved road and motorways in particular.

    Taken from here


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    The problem in Donegal is purely anti-social Motorsport inspired boy-racer types added to a peripheral siege mentality of "f*ck the system" with little regard for law and order, alot of which stems from the earlier troubles and IRA etc.

    I have had problems recently with young men who should know better acting like totally little scumbags in a similar car to the lads killed in Donegal.

    I think that Driving Licenses should not be issued to anyone under 21 in Donegal, all motorsport and Rally's should be banned in the county as they play a huge part in glamorising the boyracer culture. Send up a few hundred gardai with constant checkpoints and litter the place with speed vans, clamp down hard on the population there and they will soon get the message that Donegal's utter disregard for the rules of the road must stop.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,555 ✭✭✭Ave Sodalis


    theguzman wrote: »
    The problem in Donegal is purely anti-social Motorsport inspired boy-racer types added to a peripheral siege mentality of "f*ck the system" with little regard for law and order, alot of which stems from the earlier troubles and IRA etc.

    Donegal isn't in the North.


    I think that Driving Licenses should not be issued to anyone under 21 in Donegal, all motorsport and Rally's should be banned in the county as they play a huge part in glamorising the boyracer culture. Send up a few hundred gardai with constant checkpoints and litter the place with speed vans, clamp down hard on the population there and they will soon get the message that Donegal's utter disregard for the rules of the road must stop.


    So the vast majority of sensible young people who need their cars to actually get anywhere should be penalized because of a few idiots? The place is littered with speed vans and checkpoints.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    Donegal isn't in the North.






    So the vast majority of sensible young people who need their cars to actually get anywhere should be penalized because of a few idiots? The place is littered with speed vans and checkpoints.

    Its not but it is very much at the periphery of Ireland, it could be regarded almost like an island out on its own in many aspects. I think that Donegal needs to learn some harsh lessons for a few years so that boyracer culture becomes unacceptable PC up there. Modified cars should be immediately seized and destroyed and certain types just made uninsurable.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,555 ✭✭✭Ave Sodalis


    theguzman wrote: »
    Its not but it is very much at the periphery of Ireland, it could be regarded almost like an island out on its own in many aspects. I think that Donegal needs to learn some harsh lessons for a few years so that boyracer culture becomes unacceptable PC up there. Modified cars should be immediately seized and destroyed and certain types just made uninsurable.


    Approaches like the one you're suggesting will do absolutely nothing except get people's backs up. So far, we have nothing to suggest that it was the "boyracer culture" that caused this accident.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10 udun


    The Dublin bashing here is ridiculous and is probably from people who have driven there about 10 times in their life and simply didn't like being stuck behind traffic lights.

    From driving in Dublin every day all I know is that most people are generally sensible, will let you merge, pull out from a minor road, give you space to park on a main street, not drive up your arse all day etc etc..

    From any of my experiences driving down the countryside there are far more cases of aggressive drivers. The boy racer culture doesn't seem to exist in Dublin anymore but obviously according to people in this thread it still prevails elsewhere.

    From driving to donegal and across some of the 6 counties I experienced some painfully aggressive driving which actually can give you moments of fear as someone dangerously overtakes you at 130km/h on a bend. It all needs to stop.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,332 ✭✭✭V8 Interceptor


    theguzman wrote: »
    I think that Driving Licenses should not be issued to anyone under 21 in Donegal.

    :eek:


  • Registered Users Posts: 3 yamaha50


    rip lads
    there but for the grace of god went a lot of us in our younger days


  • Advertisement
Advertisement