This article is from page 1 of the 2014-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
HAIL stones, which struck cars like “little ball bearings”, caused a spate of car accidents on the M18 near Newmarket-on-Fergus, as people made their way to work on Thursday morning last.
The freak hail storm caused three separate accidents involving five cars in just half an hour – with both lanes of Clare’s busiest motorway being closed for extended periods during rush hour.
The first accident was reported on the north bound carriageway just after 8.30am – with the motorway being closed for 90 minutes and one person being hospitalised with minor injuries.
Two separate accidents were then reported at the same location on the south bound carriageway, just ten minutes after the first accident. No one was hurt in either of the south bound accidents but the south bound carriageway was closed for more than a hour.
The National Roads Association (NRA) yesterday blamed the freak hail storm for the spate of accidents.
“Weather totally changes the conditions on how the driver and the road interact. Depending on the severity of the hail, it can act like little ball bearings and therefore the best course of action is to reducing your speed,” said NRA spokesperson Sean O’Neill.
The NRA also confirmed yesterday that it will now conduct an “engineering assessment” of the the M18 north of Crusheen, where six separate accidents took place during stormy conditions on the morning of December 19 last.
Despite requests from Clare County Council, the NRA will not conduct a full safety audit, but have instead committed to completing a engineering assessment within the next next few months.
Mr O’Neill also said that the NRA “cannot fully eliminate” the possibility of water pooling on this section of the road during heavy weather and suggested that permanent signs asking motorists to reduce speed in bad weather could be erected.