Motorists driving on hard shoulder during fatal collision in Limerick branded a ‘disgrace’

A COUNTY councillor said he was “shocked” by the number of vehicles who sped down the hard shoulder while emergency services dealt with a fatal collision in Limerick.

Cllr John O’Donoghue was one of many motorists caught up in delays after a a northbound section of the M20 Limerick-Cork motorway was closed for a number of hours on Sunday evening last.

At approximately 5.20pm, gardaí, firefighters and paramedics were alerted to a collision involving a pedestrian and a car on the M20 northbound between Junction 3 Raheen and Junction 2 Dooradoyle.

The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene. The section of the M20 was closed to allow Garda Forensic Collision Investigators carry out a technical examination. Local diversions were put in place.

Cllr O’Donohue said he was “shocked” by the number of vehicles he observed speeding down the hard shoulder as he sat in bumper to bumper traffic.

“How do they think the ambulances and the fire brigades and gardai get to crashes? They may not have known some poor person had been killed but it was obvious something serious had happened. You could see the flashing blue lights in the distance and the guards don’t close the motorway for the fun of it.

“Those motorists were putting themselves, other road users and emergency services at risk. They should think of the consequences of their actions when using the road,” said Cllr O’Donoghue, who branded the motorists driving down the hard shoulder as “disgraceful”.

The Independent Ireland councillor also saw a car being towed up the hard shoulder with a rope.

“It had no tail lights or hazards on - absolutely crazy stuff,” said Cllr O’Donoghue.

He expressed his sympathies to the family of the deceased woman.

“It is sad to hear another person has died on our roads but an already terrible situation could have escalated in seconds by people speeding down the hard shoulder,” he concluded.