Widow of man killed in Co Clare crash calls for improvements to road where he died

A woman whose husband was killed in a crash in Co Clare said the best monument to his memory would be improvements to the road where he died. Bridget Fogarty's 57-year-old husband Michael died in June 2018 as he took the turn-off for Ennis, at Junction 13 on the M18 southbound.

In December 2021, a suspended 12-month jail sentence was imposed on Paul Van Tamlin[1], of Lough Ramor Camping Caravan Park, Virginia, Co Cavan, for careless driving causing the death of Mr Fogarty from Crusheen, on June 5, 2018.

A four-year driving ban was also imposed by the sentencing judge.

Mr Fogarty, a milkman and father of three adult children, was driving his Ford Transit van when it was struck from behind by a Volvo articulated truck being driven by Mr Van Tamlin at the exit from the Galway to Limerick motorway at Tulla, outside Ennis.

During the sentencing hearing, concerns were raised by Judge Brian O'Callaghan about the design of the turn-off of the motorway at Junction 13. This was again highlighted at the inquest into the death last year.

Mrs Fogarty met with the Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers last week in Clare, and accompanied him to the site of the accident to highlight her concerns about the junction.

"I never had any interest in putting up a monument at the side of the road where he was killed but it would be a monument to him if something was done," she said.

She said her husband used the road where the accident occurred up to three times a day on his milk rounds.

He often came home to me saying someone would be killed at the junction.

He was one of the people who used it very often."

She said there was not enough of a deceleration area leading into the junction, and added the acceleration zone for the northbound exit onto the motorway at the same junction was also too short.

Fianna Fail TD Cathal Crowe recently raised the case in the Dail, after Mrs Fogarty raised the issue with him after the Road Traffic Measures Bill[2] was given approval for drafting last month.

Bridget Fogarty said the high number of road deaths to date this year was 'heartbreaking'.

The legislation includes powers being granted to vary the number of penalty points during specific times when road safety risks are higher.

"I didn't notice anything in it about dangerous motorways," Mrs Fogarty said.

Mr Crowe raised the issue in the Dail, saying: "The coroner said that the acceleration zone for joining the motorway at that junction is half of what it should be and the deceleration zone for exiting the motorway is also half of what it should be. The road was built to dual carriageway minimum specifications, but afterward, it became a motorway. The configuration of the junction is entirely inappropriate."

Ms Fogarty said getting something done at the junction where her husband lost his life will "save other families from going through the grief and the horror".

She recalled teaching a class when gardai came to the school where she worked to tell her about Michael's death.

She spoke to the Irish Examiner ahead of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

She said the high number of road deaths to date this year was "heartbreaking".

A spokesman for Transport Infrastructure Ireland said: "A report recommending an engineering intervention at Junction 13 on the M18 is currently being finalised.

It is anticipated that any recommended changes will be implemented in 2024, subject to any necessary consents and available funding."

References

1. ^ a suspended 12-month jail sentence was imposed on Paul Van Tamlin (www.irishexaminer.com)
2. ^ Road Traffic Measures Bill (www.irishexaminer.com)