Anyone who drives in the wrong direction on a motorway or road is playing “Russian roulette” with people’s lives, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has said.
The association’s vice-president, John Joe O’Connell, also said gardaí need better training to deal with such incidents.
“We’re looking for the proper training framework so our members can deal with non-compliant stops,” O’Connell said.
Five teenage boys died and four other people were seriously injured on Sunday following a head-on collision involving a car travelling on the wrong side of the M9 motorway in Co Kildare.
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Sisters Alma and Niamh Kinsella were in the front of the second car while their younger sister Ellie Hendricken was a rear-seat passenger alongside her nephew. The young boy was also seriously injured in the incident.
The teenage boys were travelling in a stolen BMW, driven down the M9 in the wrong direction, speeding into oncoming traffic, in two stints in the early hours of Sunday. Gardaí in a patrol car had earlier requested the vehicle to stop at about 2am in Athy, but the driver sped off.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland on Monday, O’Connell confirmed the car failed to stop for gardaí earlier in the night.
“There were units from all over south Kildare and Carlow waiting to see when would they see this car pop up again anywhere,” he said.
It is understood gardaí were not pursuing the BMW at the time of the crash. Gardaí believe the BMW was driven on to the wrong side of the M9 because the driver was trying to evade gardaí and likely knew Garda patrol cars would not be allowed to pursue them driving against traffic.
O’Connell said it was “standard practice” to not follow cars driving in the wrong direction. He said gardaí have to make “a split-second decision” in scenarios like his. “We’re kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” he said.
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Echoing comments made by Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, O’Connell said there was a trend of people filming themselves driving the wrong way down motorways or dual carriageways, trying to evade gardaí. He said gardaí have been “dealing with” this practice for about five years.
O’Connell said “different levels of driver training” are available to gardaí, but “not one of our members is trained in pursuit training”.
“There are a huge amount of Garda drivers out there who are trained in what’s called CBD [competency-based driving] 1, it’s the lowest level of driver training ... They cannot, as per that policy of that driver training, activate blue lights and sirens.”
O’Connell said, if gardaí do engage in a pursuit, they fear they will face internal sanctions or “finding themselves before the courts with criminal offences”.
Gardaí are investigating if the teenagers involved in the crash at the weekend were associated with the so-called Lucky Dip gang.
“We are looking at these kids and this Lucky Dip gang, or whatever you want to call them, they’re out playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives,” O’Connell said.
He described the incident as “horrific” for all of the families involved, saying the boys were “some mother’s son”.
Three women and a young boy were injured when the stolen BMW struck their car. The people in the second car were making their way to Dublin Airport to travel to Britain for a family wedding. Two of the women are in a critical condition in hospital, while a third woman and the boy are in a serious condition in hospital.
Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney said the Government is preparing legislation to protect gardaí when they are pursuing vehicles driving dangerously.
Canney told Morning Ireland the Government was waiting for An Garda Síochána to specify what supports it needs to tackle reckless driving.
“We’ve discussed this with the commissioner in the last couple of weeks and with the Minister for Justice,” he said.
“I am prepared to bring in additional measures to protect gardaí and to help gardaí in pursuit of the laws.
“I am awaiting for the gardaí to come back with what supports they need or what legislation they need me to put in place.”
Canney described the incident as “a terrible tragedy” and extended his sympathies to everyone involved.
