M9 crash: Taoiseach calls for ‘no tolerance’ of reckless driving on wrong side of motorway

The Taoiseach has said there should be “no tolerance” for reckless driving on the wrong side of a motorway. Micheál Martin was speaking after five teenagers were killed when the car they were travelling in on the wrong side of the M9 in Co Kildare collided with another car. The four people travelling in the second vehicle were seriously injured. In a statement on Monday, Martin said this was the “second appalling crash we’ve seen on our roads in a matter of days” – referring to an August 9th incident on the M50 which left nine people requiring hospital treatment after a car with eight teenagers inside was driven on the wrong side of the Dublin motorway. “As the Garda Commissioner has said, it is an irresponsible and dangerous act, and it is shocking that in some cases it is being done for likes on social media,” he said.READ MOREMartin said his thoughts and prayers were with the relatives who had been injured.“The lives of five teenagers have also been lost as a result. Every death on our roads brings untold grief to families and communities. There can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop.”Martin said he would be speaking to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and An Garda Síochána in relation to the matter. Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy called for urgent action to crack down on stolen vehicles being driven recklessly.[ Wrong-way motorway driving: M9 crash is latest incident as young men chase social media ‘likes’Opens in new window ]“These incidents highlight a very serious and growing threat to public safety that requires a co-ordinated response from across the justice system,” Carthy said, adding that while a vehicle pursuit is not always the safest option, gardaí need the resources, equipment and training to deal with such cases. “This includes the capacity to quickly close roads, deploy stinger devices where appropriate, co-ordinate air support and prevent vehicles from driving the wrong way on to motorways.”He was critical of Minister of State for road transport Seán Canney, who earlier on Monday said he was waiting for gardaí to specify what supports the force needed to better respond to incidents like it. “It is also clear that there are not enough roads policing gardaí to tackle dangerous driving, vehicle theft and organised criminal activity on our roads,” Carthy said. Social Democrats justice spokesman Gary Gannon said Canney’s comments were “extraordinary” given groups representing gardaí had sought specialist pursuit training, a comprehensive national pursuit framework and a dedicated professional driving licence for Garda members carrying out pursuits. He said policing obligations associated with Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union could not come at the expense of giving gardaí the operational training needed to deal with dangerous driving. Fine Gael Senator Eileen Lynch said social media companies must take action to stop their platforms hosting videos that feature dangerous driving.She said the EU’s Digital Services Act requires platforms to provide mechanisms for users to report illegal content and to process such reports appropriately. She said the act itself does not define what constitutes illegal content, as this comes from EU or national law.“The principle is straightforward: if something is illegal in the real world, we cannot allow the internet to become a place where it is celebrated, encouraged and monetised without consequence,” she said.“We should now examine whether those mechanisms are being used effectively when it comes to videos depicting dangerous criminal driving, particularly where young people may be encouraged to copy what they see.”