Garda Commissioner Condemns 'Reckless' Motorway Driving for Social Media Likes

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has strongly condemned the "reckless behaviour" of motorists who drive on the wrong side of motorways, describing it as dangerous and irresponsible. His comments come in the wake of a fatal head-on collision on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare early Sunday and another serious incident on the M50 in Dublin earlier this month.

Commissioner Kelly highlighted the disturbing trend where some individuals engage in this perilous driving for the sake of "social media likes." He expressed deep concern that this "appalling" behavior, regardless of the potentially devastating impact on innocent people and themselves, is being carried out for online attention.

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This horrific incident, following the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong-side of the motorway is. That, of course, should be self-evident, but what makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves.

Kelly extended his sympathies to those injured in the M9 collision and to the members of An Garda Síochána and emergency services who responded to the "awful incident." He stated that he was limited in his comments regarding Sunday's collision due to an ongoing inquiry by the Police Ombudsman (Fiosrú). An Garda Síochána pledged full cooperation with the investigation, which Kelly hopes will be completed swiftly. He acknowledged the challenging situations Gardaí face when dealing with such incidents.

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Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents. As always, An Garda Síochána will fully cooperate with the Police Ombudsman investigation which I hope is completed as expeditiously as possible.