12 dead in UK, Ireland 'wrong-side' crashes amid social media trend

A disturbing trend of vehicles driving the wrong way on major roads has resulted in 12 fatalities across England and Ireland in under a week. Authorities are investigating a potential connection to a social media trend that appears to encourage such dangerous behavior.

In northeastern England, seven people, including two police officers, died early Saturday. Their deaths occurred on the A66 road near Middlesbrough when a suspicious vehicle, reportedly driven the wrong way, collided with a police car. Police are examining the exact circumstances of the crash.

This incident followed a fatal crash in Ireland the previous Sunday, where five teenagers died. Their car was traveling against traffic on the M9 motorway west of Dublin when it collided head-on with another vehicle. Four occupants of the second car, including a child, sustained serious injuries.

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There can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin condemned the reckless behavior, stating, "There can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop." He noted it was the latest in a series of incidents involving wrong-way drivers on motorways.

Police chief Justin Kelly highlighted that some instances of this dangerous driving are reportedly done for social media attention. A similar collision on Dublin's M50 motorway a week prior involved a stolen vehicle carrying teenagers that was driven the wrong way, causing multiple serious injuries. Footage from inside a stolen car during a police pursuit, filmed while it was being driven the wrong way, also surfaced on social media earlier in August.

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What makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media.