A four-year-old boy who died in Mullingar, Co Westmeath on Monday was riding a scooter when he was struck by a car near his home.
The boy, who has been named locally as Abdur Rehman, died after being struck at about 6.30pm on Monday in the Farranshock estate, in Mullingar.
Abdur’s family had moved into the newly-built estate in recent months.
Emergency services treated the boy at the scene and he was taken by ambulance to nearby Regional Hospital Mullingar where he was later pronounced dead.
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It is understood the boy had celebrated his fourth birthday on Saturday. His parents are originally from Pakistan and the family welcomed a baby into the family four weeks ago.
Independent councillor and Leas Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Michael Dollard, offered his sympathies to the boy’s family.
Cllr Dollard said: “He could have been anyone’s son or grandson. It just shows you how frail a human life is. We are also thinking of all the neighbours who rushed to help the young boy following the incident.
“Our thoughts are with all of those involved. The whole town of Mullingar is absolutely traumatised by what has happened.”
Cllr Dollard said the new housing estate is located on the edge of the town which is made up of private and social housing, along with rental properties.
Garda forensic collision investigators towed away the car suspected to have been involved in the incident on Tuesday.
A cordon set up by gardaí surrounding the scene has been lifted.
Gardaí are appealing to road users or pedestrians who may have been in the area at the time of the incident to contact them. They are particularly keen to procure any camera footage, including dashcam recordings from cars that may have been travelling in and out of the estate.
Separately, a 24-year-old motorcyclist died following a collision with a car at an intersection of the R521 and R523 in the village of Ardagh, Co Limerick at 6pm on Monday. He was named locally as David O’Carroll from Shanagolden, Co Limerick.
Jason Monks (18), a father of one, was killed when the scrambler bike he was on collided with a car at about 8pm on Easter Sunday in Citywest in Dublin.
So far this year 51 people have been killed on Irish roads, nine fewer than the same period last year.
Multiple other serious road crashes were reported in recent days, including four people being seriously injured in a collision in Sligo.
A man in his 20s was airlifted to hospital following another crash in Longford.
Gardaí said they carried out 912 checkpoints where drivers were breathalysed and checked for intoxicants over the weekend. More than 4,500 breath tests and 213 oral fluid tests were performed, which led to 149 arrests for driving under the influence.
More than 2,800 drivers were detected speeding.
