New traffic gardaí out in death crash blackspot
The roads of Donegal will be patrolled for the first time today by the county’s own dedicated Garda Traffic Corps Unit in a bid to halt the loss of young lives in crashes.
The new posting, comprising of one sergeant and four gardaí, was due to begin operating out of Burnfoot garda station from 7am.
A garda spokeswoman said the unit will undertake a three-month pilot project in the Donegal Division, concentrating their activities in the Inishowen Peninsula – an area which has seen 17 young people killed in the last 18 months.
“This unit has been established as part of the Gardaí's commitment to Road Safety and will assist local gardaí in their efforts to reduce and prevent road fatalities in that area,” she added.
The move came after the Government was urged to draw up a separate road safety strategy for Donegal after accidents in the county claimed six young lives in one weekend earlier this month.
Three men and two women in their early 20s were killed in a head-on collision near Quigley’s Point, Muff in the early hours of Saturday, October 8.
A male passenger in his 20s died about five miles away the following morning when the car in which he was travelling struck a ditch on the Burnfoot Road.
Three teenagers were also killed in Buncrana in July 2004 when their car struck a bridge and plunged into a field.
Mayor of Buncrana Cllr Padraig MacLochlainn claimed a fresh safety initiative was needed after 17 young people were killed on Inishowen’s roads in the last year and a half.
