[Article] Truck driver sought after Cork tunnel damage

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0524/cork.html

Truck driver sought after Cork tunnel damage
Thursday, 24 May 2007 23:07
Gardaí are looking for a truck driver who failed to stop after causing damage to lights in the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork.

It is understood a high truck entered the northbound tunnel with a lifting arm extended, destroying most of the ceiling lights and leaving the floor of the tunnel strewn with broken glass.

An automatic warning system was activated immediately, however the vehicle proceeded through the tunnel causing extensive damage.

AdvertisementThe northbound bore of the tunnel had to be closed to traffic after the lunchtime incident. It will remain closed for the rest of the day and a contra flow system is in place in the southbound route.

Traffic disruption in the area is expected to continue this evening.

It is understood gardaí will examine CCTV footage from cameras on the approach road to the tunnel and in the tunnel itself to try to identify the truck involved.

The northbound bore is likely to remain closed until Monday, according to AA Roadwatch.

mikemac

Driver is screwed if he's on CCTV

Incidents such as these and bridge strikes are easily solved.
Pay the damage plus a €20,000 fine.
They won't do it again!

Victor

micmclo wrote:

Driver is screwed if he's on CCTV

Incidents such as these and bridge strikes are easily solved.
Pay the damage plus a €20,000 fine.
They won't do it again!

I think the max for a bridge strike is damage caused + €250,000 fine.

seamus

Ah you gotta love those crazy drink-driving truckers.

Idiot :rolleyes:

Stark

I hope the CCTV ends up on Youtube. That would be fun to watch.

Tom Dunne

It begs the question though - how the hell did he not notice the friction, noise, the debris?

godtabh

tom dunne wrote:

It begs the question though - how the hell did he not notice the friction, noise, the debris?

He didnt want to get caught?

I did my final year project on college on bridge strikes.

Some of the stuff that happens is just unreal.

Has the €250k fine ever been imposed?

Chris_533976

What an idiot. Although the tunnel has clear matrix signs and height detection that goes berserk if an overheight vehicle tries to go through, the driver was foreign so he probobly couldnt read the "WARNING VEHICLE OVERHEIGHT" signs.

Maybe they should put them on there in Polish.

What I wonder about though is this. Apparently they caught him in the city centre a bit later on. Why the hell did he go northbound through the tunnel and then to the city centre?

Apparently it was bloody chaos this morning.

parsi

The signs also have illuminated arrows (but the arrows might be in English...)

Wishbone Ash

The northbound bore reopened this evening but has a 50kph limit.

Chris_533976 wrote:

the driver was foreign so he probobly couldnt read

The signs are designed be informative to non-English speaking drivers.

mike65

Good stuff (I forgot about this and I'll be on the south ring tomorrow).

What a plank, one presumes he ain't local and is now out of the country having quit his job as soon as he could.

Mike.

Chris_533976

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The northbound bore reopened this evening but has a 50kph limit.


The signs are designed be informative to non-English speaking drivers.

If you look at the northbound signs at the right angle in the sun you can see what they're supposed to say. Its something like "Caution: Vehicle Overheight please divert" or "Warning: Vehicle Overheight please use diversion 50m".

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/10480887?view=Eircomnet&cat=National

Repairs to Lee tunnel may cost €1m
From The Irish Independent
Monday, 28th May, 2007

PART of the Lee Tunnel re-opened in Cork at the weekend - but it will be hit by numerous closures over the next two months writes Ralph Riegel. It could take that long to repair the extensive damage caused by an oversized lorry last week. The repair bill could now climb to €1m.

The 600m two-lane northbound bore of the tunnel re-opened at lunchtime on Saturday after being closed for two days. An East European contractor drove his lorry through the Lee Tunnel with an over-sized trailer, which demolished overhead lighting and electrical systems. The driver and truck were identified from CCTV security camera footage and were located by gardai in Cork city. The cost of repairs will be claimed against the haulage firm's insurers, in line with a similar incident two years ago. A garda file will be submitted to the DPP.

JupiterKid

There seems to be more and more accidents of the type where over sized lorries are hitting bridges and tunnels. It's only a matter of time IMO before one of these all too common incidents will cause a horrific fatal train derailing or fatal road accident.

There should be full imposition of the law - maximum fines imposed and the drivers should be prosecuted for criminal negligence, pure and simple. Foreign drivers of lorries must have a basic command of English, our road signs and rules of the road of they are to be permitted to drive here - no exceptions whatsoever.

Also, there should be a complete ban on oversize lorries as pertains in many other Western European countries. This was talked about but as usual the govt. did absolutely sweet FA about it. :mad:

Chris_533976

The Crusheen bridge on the N18 too is always getting hit.

Calina

JupiterKid wrote:

There seems to be more and more accidents of the type where over sized lorries are hitting bridges and tunnels. It's only a matter of time IMO before one of these all too common incidents will cause a horrific fatal train derailing or fatal road accident.

There should be full imposition of the law - maximum fines imposed and the drivers should be prosecuted for criminal negligence, pure and simple. Foreign drivers of lorries must have a basic command of English, our road signs and rules of the road of they are to be permitted to drive here - no exceptions whatsoever.

Also, there should be a complete ban on oversize lorries as pertains in many other Western European countries. This was talked about but as usual the govt. did absolutely sweet FA about it. :mad:

I'm willing to bet that a significant number of British and Irish truck drivers ploughing their way around France and Germany are not totally au fait with local French and German traffic legislation, and I'd be stunned if all or too many of them had basic command of either language. If we apply those rules here, we should be prepared for them to be applied abroad as well. That being said, given that even Irish people have some difficulty with signposting in Ireland, I really wonder how some foreigners manage to find their way around and deal with our signage.

The only point on which I agree with you is the banning of the particularly high sided lorries. Don't care if they have them in the North.

Wishbone Ash

JupiterKid wrote:

there should be a complete ban on oversize lorries

A couple of points:

1. Only a very small portion of trucks (1%?) are "supercube". The vast majority of bridge strikes are caused by trucks which are either the standard height of 4.25 metres or less or by trucks drawing flat bed trailers carrying plant and machinery. Bridge strikes in tunnels and motorways just tend to get more publicity. If there was a ban on oversized trucks, the reduction in bridge strikes would be neglible.

2. Would the irish consumer be prepared to pay more for products on the shelves? 2 supercube trucks/2 drivers = 3 standard trucks/3 drivers.

3. Some loads are indivisible and therefore we cannot have a total ban on these. (I accept though that heavy haulage is a specialised industry with specific permits etc. and that the drivers would be well aware of the limitations in their pre-planned route).

4. In some circumstances, the driver is not totally to blame as roads are resurfaced and increased in height by several centimetres without a corresponding change in signage.

Chris_533976 wrote:

The Crusheen bridge on the N18 too is always getting hit

A friend of mine used to cover that route in a triple deck car transporter. When he got to the bridge in Crusheen, he used to have to stop, unload all the cars from the bottom deck, lower the other decks, drive through to the other side, raise the top two decks and then drive all the cars through the bridge and back onto the bottom deck again. :eek: I think I would look for an alternative route!