This article is from page 11 of the 2011-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
THE Ennis bypass is to be used as a guinea pig by the National Roads Authority (NRA) to test the increasing problem of ‘ghost-drivers’ on the M18.
Ghost-driving is a new term coined to describe motorists who accidentally drive in the wrong direction on motorway onramps or off-ramps. In October of 2009, 72-year old Spanish Point woman Mary Doyle died after accidentally driving the wrong way on the N18 near Ennis.
The NRA have just completed the instillation of two signs at junctions on the M18 and, if the trial project proves successful, these signs will be rolled out across the country.
The state-of-the-art signs are activated using a radar system and flash to warn any drivers who approach the junction from the wrong direction.
“Ghost-driving takes place as a result of drivers entering the slip road in the wrong direction, travelling down the slip road in the cor- rect direction and then turning right towards on-coming traffic. Or it can take place when traffic stops on the dual carriageway and do a u-turn in the hard shoulder to travel back down the road,” Sean O’Neill of the NRA told The Clare People .
“This is not a major, widespread problem but, when it does happen, it can be very, very dangerous.”
The NRA plans
to monitor the suc
cess of the M18 pilot
scheme in the com
ing months and roll
the system out across
the country if it is
successful.
The system can be
put in place for a cost
of € 10,000 per junc
tion, meaning that
every junction on the
M18 in Clare could
be kitted out with the
system for less than
€ 250,000.
The trial radar-ac tivated signs are currently in place at junctions 13 and 14 on the M18, which includes the main Ennis offramp and the off-ramp for Scariff, Tulla and Ennis on the R352.