Three collisions at Carlanstown bend over the course of one week

A Carlanstown father of two who lives at a dangerous bend approaching the village has called for immediate traffic calming measures to be installed after three accidents occurred there last week. On several occasions, vehicles have hit both the wall and the fence at Paraic McGuinness's house on the Kells approach into Carlanstown after they lost control on the bend. In the past week alone, there have been three accidents and one van crashed though Mr McGuinness' fence and into his garden. Sleepers that were set in concrete were also damaged. Thankfully his children were not in the garden at the time, though his daughter was just 15 seconds away and saw the accident as it happened. A local woman walked past with her dog just a few moments later also. There are regular accidents at the bend and Mr McGuinness estimates that there have been about 30 accidents in the past year. On Friday morning of last week, a van lost control mounted the footpath, knocked his fence and finally came to a stop in his garden. "Somebody is going to be killed there is something isn't done," said Mr McGuinness. He explained that the problem is a combination of cars coming too fast into the village and also that the surface becomes slippy in the rain. He said that when trucks hit the brakes at the bend, the rubber sticks to the road. If there is a heavy downpour, Mr McGuinness said it is not too bad as drivers will automatically slow down but that if it is drizzling, the rubber becomes very slippy and there is no grip. "Two weeks ago the council put up two steel posts each side of the village to put up warning signs and one of them has been hit already. My fence has been hit twice in the last week." said Mr McGuinness On Monday night of last week an off duty garda hit his fence and another man hit it on Friday morning. "There has to be traffic calming. Somebody is going to be killed. A woman was walking her dog by there five minutes after the accident on Friday and my daughter was only 15 seconds away and saw it happen," he said. While Mr McGuinness is fed up with his wall and fence being damaged, his main concern is for safety. "I am genuinely concerned that somebody will lose there life or be seriously injured," he said. Mr McGuinness is calling for more warning signs to be put up and for a sign indicating that it is an accident blackspot to slow people down. He also wants the council to put a skid resistance surface on the approach to the village. Deputy Shane McEntee, Fine Gael's Road Safety Spokesperson said there had been several accidents at the bend and that he had been dealing with the issue for the last 12-15 months. Deputy McEntee said there is a commitment to put lights the whole way out of the village past the bend and that Meath County Council's Road Safety Officer had given a commitment that the texture of the road will be checked to see why there are accidents when it gets wet. "Speed is definitely a problem coming into the village. Gardai will also be taking an active role," said Deputy McEntee. "There is a black spot there. I saw what happened last weekend," he added. He also said there is a commitment for traffic calming at both ends of the village. "Money has been allocated by the NRA for traffic calming both ends and a pedestrian crossing in middle of the village. The lights will also be brought out which will help people know they are coming into a built area and to slow down," Deputy McEntee said.