The head of the Irish police, Justin Kelly, has issued a stark warning about a dangerous trend among some young drivers who operate their vehicles on the wrong side of the highway, reportedly to gain social media attention. This alert follows two recent head-on collisions near Dublin that resulted in tragic consequences.
The warning from Kelly comes after a horrific accident on Sunday morning claimed the lives of five teenagers and left three women and a child in another vehicle seriously injured as they were en route to Dublin Airport.
According to police reports, the teenagers were driving south in a lane designated for northbound traffic on a highway southwest of Dublin.
“What makes this reckless behavior even more appalling is that, in some instances, it’s done merely to gain likes on social media,” Kelly stated in a press release concerning the incident.
Police authorities typically refrain from pursuing vehicles driving against traffic on highways, due to the significant dangers posed to other drivers, as noted by the head of the union representing Irish police officers.
In a statement on RTE radio, union vice president John Joe O’Connell highlighted that these teenagers and young men were attempting to race each other by engaging in pursuits while driving against traffic on dual carriageways and highways, recording their actions for social media visibility.
Earlier in August, nine people were injured after eight young drivers collided with another vehicle while traveling the wrong way on the main orbital road around Dublin.
