A young man has died in Co Donegal after his car collided with a pole on the roadside in the early hours of Saturday.
The single-vehicle collision happened in Kerrykeel at about 3.30am.
“The male driver of the car (aged 19 years) was fatally injured during the collision. His body has been removed from the scene,” a Garda spokesman said. “A passenger who was travelling in the same vehicle is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”
The deceased was named locally as Connor McGinley from Drumbern, Milford.
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The R246 road in Ranny was closed on Saturday morning, with local diversions in place, while Garda Forensic Collision Investigators conducted a technical examination of the scene.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or with footage from the R246 between Kerrykeel and Milford from between 3am and 4am is asked to contact Milford Garda station on 074 915 3060, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, An Garda Síochána began a road safety enforcement campaign, which will continue until 7am on Wednesday.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Paula Hilman, who is in charge of roads policing, said the number of road deaths is running about 10 per cent ahead of the total for this time last year, having already reached 100. With a weather warning in place for the first part of the long weekend, she urged drivers to slow down.
“We are, unfortunately, seeing an increase in the number of young people killed on the roads this year, with 23 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 killed,” she said, which was almost the same number of young people killed in the first half of 2021 and 2022 combined, at 26.
In general, 49 per cent of road deaths occurred between 8pm and 8am, despite the fact it was the quietest time on the roads. In the first half of the year, gardaí have carried out 24,000 mandatory intoxication checkpoints – with testing for alcohol and drugs – while 3,900 drivers had been detected driving while intoxicated. Some 77,500 fixed-charge notices had been issued for speeding.
A pedestrian died after being hit by a car on the R445 (Old Dublin Road) at Lisbunny, Nenagh, Co Tipperary on Friday morning. The injured man, aged in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.