Five people have died in the past 48 hours following road accidents, including an 80-year-old pedestrian, who died in hospital two days after being knocked down. A woman in her 50s, a couple in their 30s and a 32-yearold man also died. A man died following an accident at Crettyard, Co Laois, early yesterday morning. His van overturned after skidding on ice at about 6.30 a.m.. The man, later named as Mr n Sean Crotty, got out of the van but was then struck by a passing lorry. Gardai said road conditions at the time were very bad.
Mr Crotty, from Dungarvan, Co Kilkenny, was taken to Portlaoise Hospital where he died.
Less than two hours later a husband and wife were killed when their car was in collision with a van with eight occupants at Belgree, Mulhuddart, Co Dublin.
The crash occurred at 8.05 a.m. and the eight occupants of the van were treated for injuries at the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown. The names of the couple have not yet been released, but the man was aged 32 and the woman was 30.
On Thursday evening a 54year-old woman died after a two-car collision at Carrickmacross Road in Dundalk, Co Louth. Ms Margaret Farrell from Kilkerly, Dundalk, was travelling with her 17-year-old son when the crash happened at about 10.20 p.m. The teenager was treated for leg and shoulder injuries at Louth County Hospital while the driver of the other car was treated for minor injuries and later discharged. The 80-year-old pedestrian, Ms Pauline Coulter, died on Thursday afternoon two days after being struck by a car in Co Donegal. The incident happened at 4 p.m. at Fanaghans in Inver. In Cork, the emergency plan for the Jack Lynch tunnel under the river Lee in Cork was activated for the first time yesterday when a lorry jackknifed and collided with an oncoming car. No one was injured. The tunnel was closed to traffic for more than an hour. Once the accident emergency plan was activated, fire brigade units and gardai were on the scene within minutes. Insp Peter Calanan, of the Garda Traffic Corps in Cork, said the accident was considered a serious one, as it occurred in the enclosed space of a tunnel. The accident occurred on the Blackrock side of the 610-metre tunnel. The woman driver of the car was taken to Cork University Hospital but was later released. The £90 million tunnel was opened two years ago and an average of 2,000 vehicles an hour pass through.
Because of the accident, traffic was diverted at the Mahon and Dunkettle interchanges, but normal traffic flow was able to resume shortly after 10 a.m..
The five deaths in the past two days bring to 349 the number of people killed on roads in the Republic this year, a marginal decline on the same period last year when 361 people died. However, the Republic's annual fatality rate of approximately 12 people per 100,000 is twice that of Britain.
Fatalities have fallen from 472 in 1997 to 458 in 1998 and 413 last year. Serious injuries have also dropped by 15 per cent relative to 1997.
The Republic will be among the last EU member-states to establish a penalty points system for drivers, proposals for which are expected in a Bill to be introduced in the Dail before the end of the year.