Road Death Toll Rises Again

There's a mounting toll of Irish road deaths with another fatality taking place this morning.

A man in his 40s has been killed in the latest crash, this time on the Cashel bypass in Co Tipperary.

The man was driving a van that crashed into the back of a truck parked on the hard shoulder at around 8.30am.

The truck driver was uninjured in the incident and gardaí are appealing for witnesses.

They said the road will remain closed while a technical examination of the scene is carried out.

This is but the latest fatal traffic accidents on Irish roads, which continue to be a worrying statistic.

While there's no suggestion this latest death is drink-related, Garda officers have already promised to increase their work in targeting the mounting road toll, especially in detecting drink-drivers in the coming weeks.

Indeed, figures just released this week show that 426 drink-driving incidents were recorded in just one week - the seven days up to last Sunday.

During the previous week it was even worse, with 429 such incidents being recorded.

Now, a statement from the Gardai has said that "enforcement activities" in the area of road safety would continue to be a priority - and that means an ever increasing emphasis on drink-drivers particularly in the run up to Christmas.

(BMcC)