A motorist driving to Mullingar on the Ballynacargy Road just outside the town, during Storm Doris early on Thursday morning last, 23 February, was fortunate to escape with his life, after a tree crashed onto the road immediately in front of him, and with no time to stop, his vehicle crashed into it.
It appears also that in the storm – which saw winds gusting gale force, up to 90mph (140 kph) despite forecasts of 80kph winds – most of the trees which fell on different Westmeath roads were covered with a substantial growth of ivy, and this appears to have been the main contributor to the trees’ demise, and the danger created for motorists.
The incident we refer to occurred at around 5am, on Thursday morning, 22 February, on the Mullingar – Ballynacargy road, about 250 metres beyond the Irishtown filling station, and the driver of the car found himself confronted suddenly by a tree.
While Topic’s efforts to contact the Irishtown driver before going to press have been unsuccessful, a witness described how the car had struck the tree, and the violent impact between tree and car had not only badly damaged the car, but had burst the two back tyres of the vehicle. Thankfully and most importantly, however, the shocked driver escaped without serious injury, we understand.
Our informants felt that if the driver – who was going to work at the time – had not been strapped into his vehicle, most likely he would have been thrown from the vehicle by the impact and the accident could have been fatal.
However, had his car been a split second further on towards Mullingar, the driver could have been crushed to death by the falling tree.
“In that case, being strapped in would not be enough to save anyone,” Topic was told. “So not having dangerous trees covered in ivy has to be made a priority along busy roads.”
Westmeath County Council employees found themselves extremely busy, removing fallen trees and tree branches from a number of roads as quickly as possible, including the road at Irishtown, Mullingar. Most of the roads affected, including the Ballynacargy to Mullingar road and the Mullingar-Castlepollard road had been cleared by 8.15am, thanks to the full scale early-morning work of the Council outdoor staff members and those assisting them.
Topic has previously highlighted the fact that the removal of ivy from trees was a key factor in preventing road accidents during storms, as when roadside trees are allowed to become overgrown with ivy, this often causes problems for everyone, because a dead tree can remain in place, and even healthy trees are damaged by strong ivy growths, and are eventually pulled down by the parasitic ivy.
In the past, most landowners took the trouble to cut ivy growing on their trees to prevent this, but even large hawthorn bushes and trees, as well as roadside ash, are now more often ivy-covered than not. Tree surgeons, like John Lynch, have referred to this on several occasions in recent years.
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