Kerry's road markings on the skids

SMALL PRINT:A LOCAL councillor in Co Kerry said this week that the antics of "joyriders leaving doughnuts" on that county's roads are creating issues in relation to road markings and signage, especially at larger junctions. Cllr Brendan Cronin, an Independent, made his comments at a Killarney meeting, following representations made to him by concerned residents.

Cronin says that youths leaving tyre-marks on roads by braking suddenly or driving too fast in a circular fashion are costing the local council thousands of euro in road repairs when “doughnuts” wipe out existing road signs.

“I have seen it in a number of areas I am elected to represent, and it is a particular problem at junctions,” he says. “In some places the road markings have been obliterated by people doing doughnuts in their cars. There is an issue of driver safety here when markings are erased from the road surface. I know one driver who had a very narrow escape when driving over an erased white line.”

Another issue that is getting more attention is the one of cost. Like many local authorities, Co Kerry outsources road-marking work to an outside contractor, and the cost of having markings on roads replaced or repaired can range from €500 for a small junction, to €1,200 for a larger one.

“In my eyes this is vandalism of council property,” says Cronin, “and there is substantial money involved. We have a lot of this happening in Killarney late on weekend nights, especially where the junctions are fairly wide.”

Cronin says he believes the problem is not confined to Co Kerry and that many of the drivers causing the problems are well organised. “They have people posted on corners to keep lookout, and they text each other when the Garda are coming. It is making life very difficult here to stop this.”