Four people killed in separate road incidents in two days

Two pedestrians and two motorists have died on the roads in four separate incidents over the weekend as the number of fatalities on Irish roads this year continues to rise.

On Sunday, a male motorcyclist in his 40s was killed in Co Donegal. He was involved in a single vehicle incident on the R262 near Glenties in the afternoon.

He received medical treatment at the scene of the incident but was pronounced dead a short time later.

The road remained closed between Kilraine and Frosses on Sunday night pending a forensic investigation.

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Separately, a male pedestrian, aged in his 40s, was fatally injured after he was struck by a vehicle at junction 16 southbound on the M1 motorway in Dundalk, Co Louth, at about 2.45am on Sunday.

The driver of the vehicle, a man aged in his early 50s, and his three passengers (aged 50s and 40s) were treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries.

The scene was preserved for examination by Garda investigators.

Any road users who were travelling on the M1 between 2.30am and 3am who may have witnessed the collision are encouraged to contact gardaí.

Elsewhere, a man in his 20s died in Co Roscommon in a single-vehicle crash.

The incident occurred at Scrine Hill at around 2.50am on Sunday when the man’s car overturned. The scene was preserved for an examination, with the road closed and diversions put in place.

The third fatal incident occurred on the R555 at Duagh village, near Listowel, Co Kerry, late on Saturday night. At about 9.50pm, gardaí attended the scene where a male pedestrian, aged in his late teens, was seriously injured. He was taken to Kerry University Hospital and later died.

The woman driver of the vehicle involved, who was in her early 20s, and the three passengers, all in their later teens, were uninjured. The scene was preserved for a Garda examination.

Postmortems will take place in three of the cases. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to all three incidents.

Those with information are asked to contact Letterkenny Garda station on 074 916 7100, Dundalk Garda station on 042 938 8400, Roscommon Garda station on 090 663 8300, Listowel Garda station on 068 50820, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

The three deaths, coming at the end of Irish Road Safety Week, follow the death of Christy Henry late on Friday when his car entered a lake on the Co Mayo island of Inishbiggle. His car veered off the road and entered a lake at about 8.30pm.

There has been a rise in the number of road deaths this year, with a total of 139 people having been killed up to 9am on Friday last, October 6th – 26 road deaths more than the same period last year – according to the most recent statistics from gardaí. The latest five deaths bring the total to 144.

Minister of State for Road Safety Jack Chambers last month announced plans to reduce speed limits and make Irish roads safer but this will require legislation.

Under the proposals, the new default speed limit on national secondary roads would drop from 100km/h to 80km/h. The default speed limit for the network of local and rural roads throughout the country would be reduced from 80km/h to 60km/h.

Urban roads, which include built-up areas such as housing estates and town centres, would reduce to 30km/h. Arterial roads and radial routes around urban settings would be set at 50km/h. There are no proposed changes to the speed limits on motorways and national primary roads contained in the review.