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AN 18-YEAR-OLD MAN has died following a crash involving two cars in Donegal.
The teenager was the sole occupant of one of the cars involved in the crash, which happened just before midnight last night at Callan in Drumkeen.
He was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where he died this afternoon as a result of his injuries.
The two people in the other vehicle – a 38-year-old male driver and a 23-year-old female passengers – are being treated for their injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.
The N13 road was closed to allow for Garda investigators to examine the scene but has since reopened.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Letterkenny Garda Station on 074 9167100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
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Sad news for all concerned. Is it me or does it seem like Donegal has a problem… With young drivers
Donegal has a serious problem with young male drivers especially…you see them speeding everywhere. What makes it worse is that there’s hardly any Gardaí to stop them. They have a different mentality up here, even though there’s hardly a community that’s not been affected by the tragic loss of young people on the roads….they just don’t seem to care.
I live in Letterkenny and every Wednesday night you can hear the boy racers racing through the town. Rather annoying when you’re trying to study. R.I.P. to the young fella though
Why is it on Wednesday nights, Sean?
No idea Seamus. They are out every night but Wednesday seems to be the worst
Another death on the road. Where will it end. Another family in bereavement.
Impose limits on driving hours for under 21. Sunrise to sunset when no one over 21 is present in the vehicle.
This has been shown to be effective in reducing youth driving fatalities. It is not a total answer, but if it saves your son or daughter’s life, then it will be well worth it.
I realise that no blame has been assigned to anyone in this particular case.
The problem though Seamus is that there are no Gardaí up here to enforce something like that. Look what happened recently where a woman’s house was burgled and she had to drive to the Garda barracks to give the guard a lift because he had no car…in fact, this is how ridiculous things are up here :http://www.derryjournal.com/news/embarrassment-as-garda-station-robbed-1-2115251
That’s not the only problem. Look at the Garda who was killed trying to stop one of them. His killer walks out of a holiday camp and his memorial plaques is vandalised in a disgraceful manner. Obviously it’s not just the young male drivers that are a problem up there.
Spending a few days here in Donegal. One thing I have noticed on many roads are the tyre marks from cars doing “donuts”
fair enough, maybe there is, but this lad wasn’t doing anything of the sort!
First of all RIP to that poor young lad.
Secondly, we’ve had road deaths all year, pedestrians, motorbikes, car drivers and passengers, very sad stories all of them, but as soon as a young driver dies its knee jerk reactions of curfews and putting the heat on “under 21s”. For Christ’s sake get a grip of yourselves, the RSA tried for years to blame young male drivers for everything to no avail, then older people stopped driving blind drunk and road deaths halved in 2 years. But hey, p*ss all over this tragic story if you think you know everything.
Seriously? Get a life you absolute muppet!
I have a life, and it doesn’t involve perpetuating the stereotype of the boy racer, it involves struggling to pay my ridiculous car insurance by driving quite late at night to and from work, so forgive me if the ideas of screaming for curfews when no details of the crash are known anger me a bit, on top of being very disrespectful.
I assume that’s why you have replied to me (although it’s hard to gauge from your cryptic message), but in the off chance that you’re angry at me because you work for the RSA and I’ve implicitly insulted you, let me remind you of the “He drives She dies” campaign to back up my statement .
It’s about time something was done regarding all drivers under 21 at least! There are just too many families losing loved ones!!
Curfews for one, higher insurance, restricted engine size for under 21′s, just some ideas! Rip to that young fellow!
I love how many comments are being put out assuming that the young lad who has died was the cause of this. Well done lads, you’ve added to the stereotype.
I agree there is an issue with young male drivers and that Donegal has a problem. The evidence is there for anyone in denial:
http://www.rsa.ie/Global/Seminars/Human%20Impact/Donegal_Road_collision_facts_1997_2009_3_.pdf
RIP to the young fella, and hopefully a full and fast recovery for those in the other car.
Tomy First of all you are saying sarcastically “well do to the lads for the stereotyping” and then ya go and reinforce it yourself with the link you attached, a little hypocritical don’t ya think?
Padraig – I acknowledge what the evidence is there – perhaps my terminology was a little off.
What I am saying is that just because a young man was involved does not mean that he was the cause of this crash. It’s stereotyping to assume so and while evidence points to that being true I think it a bit unfair on the young man and his family to make such assumptions.
Pretty guaranteed that some family and friends have read these comments – why pin blame right now when they are about to bury their friend/son/brother?
RIP poor guy, and thoughts to his family. An 18 year old driving alone……………………………
What is the problem with an 18 year old driving alone?? I am 30 now, I have been driving since I was 17 and had my full licence at 18. I have never had an accident. What is your point?
Shane was a good lad. Never drank, hardworking, intelligent and responsible young man.
It’s not about age, its about what you have in head. You might be 30-40 and still not smart enough to drive yourself or even sit in front of the car.
RIP Shane
an 18 year old driving alone ? have you a problem with that ? he was one of my best friends and has had a full licence well over a year ! and i’ll also have you know that it wasnt his fault ! a car driving with no lights caused it !!!
So sad that everyone is assuming that it was the young lad at fault. Get your facts right, its a disgrace. He did nothing wrong in this accident, he was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time!!
People always jump the guns , just because some young male drivers do the odd rallying dont mean they all do . its called an accident , wasn’t shanes fault . simply at the wrong place at the wrong time . shane was a lovely lad , give young ones a break for a change,not all young drivers are the same.
older people think they are so experienced that they forget to obey the rules of the road.
Rest in peace big man :’]
Very sad news a young lads death R.I.P. Young lad and deepest condolences to your Parents,Family,Friends and all who knew you
Yes you are right a comment like curfews would not be seen if it was an older person,you are correct about that one! It was not directed and that unfortunate guy that lost his life directly, rip, it was at all 18 to possible 21 or 25 year olds!
It’s that age group that has insurance prices at the level they are at! So something needs to be done and if that means introducing stricter measures and reducing the hours they are allowed drive between so be it! If that reduces the heartache of having to bury a daughter or a son mother or father, sister or brother so be it!
My first quote for insurance was more then the car was worth so suck it up!
You say something needs to be done, purely because young driving deaths aren’t at zero. Ireland is something like the 6th safest place to drive in the world, and we’re the safest generation of drivers ever to grace the roads, 20 years ago road deaths were 250% of today’s figures. If you reduce the amount of hours you let middle-aged or older people drive, it will probably prevent the number of fathers and mothers we bury too, but at some level you have to accept that driving has risk. And with over 2.5 million cars on Irish roads, we as a society have agreed that it’s an acceptable risk to take, and denying that risk to a certain age group just because you’ve grown out of that age group isn’t going to solve anything.
Brendan, so why do you thing you have such high insurance “food for thought”! I only made a suggestion of curfews, obliviously there would be exceptions to the rule once it can be proven where and why you are going!
We are a very small country and the death toll of the roads is unacceptable!! Another two died last night rip!
I have high insurance relative to other groups because people my age/gender costs insurance companies more. Partially caused by people my demographic fulfilling the boy racer type, driving beyond their experience and driving dangerously/illegally, partially caused by the disproportionate amount of driving men do in comparison to women, and partially because of the disproportionate amount of late night driving done by younger people than older people. In addition to the capitalist structure of car insurance not seen with health insurance where at risk groups are subsidised by otherwise cheaper clients.
I’m not in denial about the failings of a lot of young drivers, and I don’t think I’m perfect or king of the road, but I don’t want to have to get a permission slip every time I want to go out after dark, and throwing that point of view on the news story of someone who may not have even been at fault in their accident is disrespectful, and wouldn’t be seen if the driver was older, case in point this mornings article.
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