TWO men were taken to
hospital yesterday following a head-on collision at
a notoriously dangerous junction near
Newtowncunningham.
The accident happened at Dr White's Corner near
Rooskey, between a small business van and a car. The
men were the only occupants of each vehicle. It is
understood that staff from Donegal County Council
were this week due to assess the junction for
imminent safety works.
An eyewitness, who lives locally, said the two
vehicles collided with such force they "went up into
the air". He said local people were fed-up that
nothing had been done to make the junction safer
despite years of pleas to the local authority.
"This was a very serious accident and the two cars
seem to have been written off," said the eye
witness.
"All the locals here are terrified of that junction
because there are no markings and the stop sign is
hidden under a tree about 10-15 metres away. Every
single day that junction is overshot by drivers who
don't know the area and it's not their fault. That
road is a fatality waiting to happen," added the
witness.
It was unclear at the time of going to press, how
serious the men's injuries were, however Gardai were
at the scene for some hours.
Fine Gael councillor, John Ryan, said he was well
aware of the junction.
"I have raised this issue and I have got a
commitment from Donegal County Council that they
will carry out safety works at the junction. It is
very unfortunate that this accident has happened
when these works are imminent. I hope these men make
a full and speedy recovery," said Cllr Ryan.
"I recently looked at the road with the road
engineers and a safety audit has been done. I will
be making more calls on this to make sure these
works are carried out urgently," he added. |