Grandmother’s fears lives could be lost at accident blackspot

Grandmother’s fears lives could be lost at accident blackspot

26 July 2023

A DISTRAUGHT grandmother has warned that “someone is going to be killed” if drivers using the Bonecastle Road outside Downpatrick don’t slow down.

Over the past three weeks, three cars have crashed into the wall outside the home of Mrs Maria Dagens, with the last of the accidents completely demolishing the structure which has already been rebuilt on several occasions.

There have been 14 accidents in the past year alone since a sweeping bend near the Dagens family home was realigned.

The concerned grandmother also revealed that a driver who lost control of her car last Friday night ended up careering into a ditch opposite her home after her vehicle broadsided on the road.

A number of politicians are seeking an urgent site meeting with senior officials from the Department for Infrastructure to discuss the high number of accidents, with Mrs Dagens issuing a heartfelt appeal to drivers to slow down.

She said her grandchildren normally play in the garden, revealing that she or her husband are with them at all times.

The grandmother also revealed that the couple have difficulty sleeping at night as they are literally waiting for the next car to crash into their property, explaining the force of some of the accidents propels parts of the smashed wall into the front of the house.

“We built the wall to protect our home but it has been damaged so many times by people driving too fast. If they don’t slow down, someone is going to be killed and I don’t want it to be my grandchildren,” she continued,

Mrs Dagens said a CCTV camera has been erected at the front of the house with the footage of the most recent accident shown to police.

“Cars travelling from the Ballydugan Road junction are literally flying along the road and when they get to the bend the drivers lose control and crash. This has to stop and people need to slow down or there will be a fatality,” the grandmother warned.

“Three drivers have crashed into our property in as many weeks and we simply cannot afford to keep rebuilding the wall at the front of our home as it is so expensive.”

Mrs Dagens said a van crashed through the boundary wall last Christmas and that while a new ‘slow’ sign has been erected and one painted on the road, a high number of drivers are simply not slowing down.

“The most recent accidents are just the tip of the iceberg given what has happened over the past few years,” she continued.

“Cars come flying down the road and when some drivers reach the bend they lose control and crash into the wall. One of my grandchildren is three and a half and has learning difficulties and is deaf in one ear. 

“I shudder to think what could potentially happen if any of the children were playing in the garden and a vehicle crashed into the wall. When the children are playing in the garden my husband and I literally patrol along the wall. 

“We cannot and would not leave them in the garden on their own. It may sound stupid that we patrol the wall but that is exactly what we do. We have to be outside with them at all times as we don’t know what is going to happen.”

Mrs Dagens said the most recent crash the CCTV system recorded “would scare the life out of you” and appealed to drivers to slow down before someone is killed or very seriously injured.

She recently posted a photograph of the aftermath of the latest crash outside her home on social media with over 100 people responding, with the overwhelming majority of the comments calling for the speeding issue to be addressed.

“If my grandchildren had been in the garden when the wall was demolished recently they would not be here today. There is no doubt about that. 

Indeed, if my husband and I had been in the garden when the wall was hit we would not be here either,” Mrs Dagens declared.

“Both the police and roads officials have been made aware of the number of accidents and I hope something is done to address the speeding issue. It is in everyone’s interest that this happens,” she continued.

Mrs Dagens added: “Someone is going to be killed if driver behaviour doesn’t improve. That’s the bottom line and I’m appealing to those who travel along the Bonecastle Road to please slow down and think of the people who live in the area and indeed other drivers.”