Twelfth Road Victim Named

The man killed in a car crash in Co Tyrone yesterday morning was the 12th such fatality in 2009.

Named today as Aidan McLaughlin, 20, from the Dromore area, his car struck a tree at Lettergash Road, near Dromore, on Wednesday.

The crashed car was discovered at about 7.45am and the police want to speak to anyone who may have come across the scene, near the main Dromore to Irvinestown Road as the time of the actual accident remains unclear.

His death means that, since the beginning of the year, 12 people have been killed on Northern Ireland's roads.

Earlier this week, Harry Green, Chief Road Safety Officer for the Department of the Environment said that the number of people being killed on the roads is unlikely to drop significantly.

Mr Green, who was recently awarded the MBE for public and voluntary service and is due to retire in April, said that while new initiatives had the potential to further reduce casualties, he did not expect a dramatic fall.

He said there were no "big-hitting" initiatives left to prevent casualties and the onus was now on drivers to be more careful on the roads.

He also warned against the danger of cutting funding to road safety measures during an economic crisis, saying the same amount would be needed to keep casualty figures at present levels.

Last year 107 people including seven children lost their lives on Northern Ireland's roads.

The issue is an all-island one as the deadly toll continues to mount south of the border too.

Gardaí at Newbridge are investigating a fatal road traffic collision that occurred shortly before 6pm on Tuesday.

It happened at Blacktrench, Newbridge, Co Kildare and resulted in a 19-year-old man Simon Mather of Rathangan, being killed when the car he was driving was in collision with another car.

The victim was taken to Naas General Hospital after the collision and death was pronounced a short time later.

(BMcC/JM)