Truck crushes child at bridge blackspot
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• by Brendan Nolan A driver has been charged with dangerous driving following an accident at Slane bridge on 12 February in which a two-yearold boy died, The child was travelling in his mother's car when it was crushed by a following truck as they approached the Co Meath bridge at about midday. Barry Graham from Portrush, Co Antrim, was charged with dangerous driving and remanded on bail.
His artic was loaded with timber; it is operated by Oliver Transport Services from Castlerock, Northern Ireland.
The approach to Slane bridge is a two-mile descent ending with a sharp right turn onto the bridge, but traffic lights stop traffic at the foot of the hill to accommodate a oneway system on the bridge.
The bridge is the only Boyne crossing on the N2 and thousands of vehicles use it each week, many of them NM. It has been the scene of eight read deaths in 12 years.
Two truck drivers were killed in separate accidents at the bridge last year (CM 3-9 Aug 2000).
Last weak 600 local residents closed the road in a two-hour protest over lack of action by the National Roads Authority.
They called for the removal of the traffic signals and provision of a separate safety lane to allow trucks to run off the road if they get into difficulties during the descant.