GARDAÍ HAVE issued a road safety weather warning for hailstones for later Easter weekend.
It follows a number of accidents yesterday.
“Hail and thunder risks are expected to persist in parts of the country later today and possibly over the Easter weekend along with frost. Hail, in particular will lead to treacherous driving conditions,” said a Garda spokesman.
“Hailstones are a year round occurrence in Ireland and can create very dangerous driving conditions due to their unpredictable and localised nature. The RSA have produced a short information video offering simple but effective advice on what to do if you encounter a sudden shower of hailstones on the road. In addition, cruise control should be switched off when driving in hazardous weather conditions.”
Gardaí attended a number of incidents yesterday which occurred on the M6 (junctions 14-15), M7 (junctions 22 -24) and M18 (junctions 15-16) between Roscrea and Gort and involved a number of vehicles. The incidents occurred between 2pm and 8pm. In addition Gardaí also attended a number of other collisions on the Dunkettle Interchange Cork, Whitefriar St, Dublin 8 and Rathjordan, Herbertstown, Caherconlish.
Gardaí say that if you find yourself caught in a sudden downpour of hailstones, here are some tips to be aware of:
– Reduce your speed.
– Use your headlights (remember your day-time running lights only give light to the front of your vehicle.
– Slow down, reduce your speed without braking and increase your braking distance.
– If necessary warn other drivers with your hazard warning lights
– Avoid sudden steering movements or braking suddenly
Don’t forget to keep an eye on forecast and travel bulletins. For more information, check out this informative video from the RSA:
Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau advises the following: “Hailshowers pose significant risks to road users particularly on motorways. Drivers on motorways need to be vigilant and ready to stop when and if necessary and they need to be able to stop the vehicle safely in order to avoid collisions. Hailshowers have resulted in multivehicle crashes recently. Please drive to the conditions, reduce your speed and increase your braking distance.”
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