Road safety meeting days after Laois lorry driver blocks M7 Motorway to stop wrong-way driver
Padraig Scully blocked the motorway to prevent the progress of a car that was driving against traffic on Tuesday afternoon
Road safety bosses are meeting to discuss motorway crashes just days after a Laois truck driver parked his lorry across the M7 Motorway to prevent a car continuing in the wrong direction.
Portlaoise Trucker Padraig Scully told the Leinster Express/Laois Live that he pulled his truck across motorway lanes between Junction 21 (Borris-in-Ossory) and Junction 22 (Roscrea) last Tuesday afternoon.
His quick reaction resulted in a wrong-way driver, who initially tried to drive around his HGV in the wrong direction, turning their car around and returning back along the motorway in the correct direction. Padraig said he believed most truck drivers he knows would react in the same way in the circumstances.
The incident occurred within a fortnight of the deaths of five teenagers who were travelling against traffic when they crashed into a car carrying three women and a boy on the M9 Motorway in Kildare, The three women and the boy who are all from Carlow, were severely injured in the crash.
Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, Seán Canney, is hosting a meeting on road safety on Ireland’s motorways today, following recent collisions on the motorway network.
Senior road safety leadership from the Road Safety Authority (RSA), An Garda Síochána and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), along with Department of Transport and Department of Justice officials, will attend the meeting in Leinster House.
Minister Canney said: “Road safety on our motorways is a key priority for Minister O’Brien and for me, and will be the focus of our meeting this week. Following recent tragedies, I want to bring the key road safety partners in Ireland together to discuss the issues arising and what more can be done to improve safety.
“This is a complex issue which has many causes and will not be easily solved. It is important that we continue to work together and look at every practical measure available to make our motorways as safe as possible for everyone who uses them."