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Black ice chaos on Inishowen roads
01.12.09
DONEGAL County Council
came in for sharp criticism yesterday after
Inishowen motorists were caught up in accidents
caused by ungritted icy roads. The local authority
admitted they failed to grit the roads in coastal
areas such as the peninsula until later yesterday
morning, because the forecast they received
suggested only inland areas would be hit with
sub-zero temperatures.
The worst of the accidents happened in the Burt area
around 7.30am yesterday when a fire engine slid into
the side of a fuel tanker after avoiding a milk
lorry that was jack-knifing on the road.
Garda Inspector David Kelly said diversions were put
in place to allow for the slow and safe
disentanglement of the vehicles while it is
understood no fuel was discharged from the tanker. |
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An eyewitness who watched the chaos unfold said:
"This incident blocked the road and created problems
for emergency vehicles responding to a two-vehicle
crash at the Glebe in Burt. Ambulances arrived from
Letterkenny and removed the occupants for treatment
and fortunately there were no serious injuries in
either incident."
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a car left the
road between Newtown and Burt before coming to a
halt between two trees.
"I talked to some car drivers and they said that the
road from Manor to Burt was extremely dangerous and
they were asking why Donegal County Council had not
gritted the road as the frost had been forecast the
previous evening," said the eyewitness. Fire tenders
from Buncrana, Northland Road and Crescent Link in
Derry had all been tasked to the early morning scene
at Burt.
Senior Council roads engineer James Boyle yesterday
said the local authority understood that coastal
areas, including Inishowen, were considered "low
risk" for frost and ice on Monday morning.
"The forecast told us there was a threat of frost
and ice in inland areas while all coastal areas were
considered a low risk for frost and ice. This proved
not to be the case," admitted Mr Boyle.
"Whenever we found that there was a problem with icy
roads in North Donegal including Burt, Bridgend and
Fahan, extra (gritting) lorries were dispatched at
7.30am." Mr Boyle conceded that 7.30am was too late
for some areas that had already seen a number of
accidents occur by this time. He said the Council
received its special Met Eireann weather report at
2.30pm on Sunday. This report said temperatures
along the coast would be between +4 and +5 degrees.
He said he heard the RTE radio weather report later
that night, after 11pm, and this suggested coastal
areas would get temperatures of +2 degrees unlike
the - 2 degrees forecast for inland areas. Gritting
lorries were sent to inland areas such as Ballybofey,
Stranorlar, Lifford and Fintown at 6am, added Mr
Boyle.
Meanwhile, Buncrana Councillor Michelle Bradley
warned of cuts to Donegal County Council's road
gritting budget.
"Where were the most basic road safety measures this
morning? The lack of gritting on our roads is
something that people in Donegal should prepare
themselves for over the next few months," said Cllr
Bradley yesterday.
"Yet it will not be the fault of our Council workers
as, a lot of the time, they can only work with what
they have. Due to cuts in Donegal’s budget for road
gritting, scenes such as those that we all witnessed
on our way to work on Monday morning are going to
become more common."
She asked whether the Government would ultimately
take responsibility if someone gets seriously
injured or killed as a result of poor road
conditions. |
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