Five killed in weekend road traffic accidents

Five people have died in road traffic accidents so far this Bank Holiday weekend as the "Arrive Alive" road safety campaign continues.

However, one of these accidents was caused by a heart attack.

Gardaí in Fermoy had been seeking witnesses to a five-car collision on Friday afternoon until a post mortem revealed that the 77-year-old driver had died from a heart attack.

Yesterday afternoon, a 21-year-old female passenger was killed when the car in which she was travelling went out of control and hit a tree at Scatternagh, near Duleek, Co Meath. The driver of the car, a man in his thirties, was seriously injured and was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

Earlier yesterday, a man was killed when the car he was driving collided with a truck near Ballinalack, Co Westmeath.Gardaí from Granard are investigating the collision which happened at 7.15 a.m.

The driver's two passengers, one male and one female, were also seriously injured in the incident. The car and truck collided about one mile from Ballinalack, on the Mullingar side. The two passengers, who were non-nationals, were removed to Longford Westmeath Hospital in Mullingar. The driver of the lorry was uninjured.

At 1 p.m. on Friday, a 52-year old woman was killed in a three car collision at Ballylangley, Bandon, Co Cork. Last night, she was named as Ms Goretti Leblanc from Skevanish, Innishannon, Co Cork.

Also on Friday, a 73-year-old woman was killed in a collision in Piltown, Co Kilkenny. Ms Sarah Kiely from Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary died after the car she was driving was involved in a collision on the main Waterford to Clonmel Road.

The "Arrive Alive" road safety campaign, mounted by the National Safety Council, the Irish Insurance Federation and An Garda Síochána, will end at midnight tonight. A Garda spokesman said thousands of checkpoints had been mounted around the country in a bid to make the roads safer.

Last year, six people died in road accidents during the October bank holiday weekend and 87 people were injured.

This year's safety campaign is particularly targeting young people speeding in cars late at night, drivers under the influence of drugs and those not wearing seat-belts. Only 46 per cent of rear seat passengers wear seat-belts.

The number of people killed on the Republic's roads continues to rise, after the steep fall which followed the introduction of penalty points two years ago. Up to last night, 306 people had been killed on the Republic's roads, excluding the heart attack victim. By the end of October last year, some 285 people were killed.