“I witness it every day” a Fermoy resident has said of motorists breaking the pedestrian lights near a dangerous junction in the town.

Gretta McConville-Buckley says she saw five cars go through red lights in one day recently at Shinnick’s Cross, on Oliver Plunkett Hill. The problem appears to be that the lights aren’t actually on the junction but further down from it.

Gretta agrees that it may be more a case of motorists, especially anybody unfamiliar with the area, not being aware of the presence of the lights down from the junction, than them deliberately driving through the lights while they’re red.

Gretta accompanies her children to school daily and sees first hand how dangerous the situation is. Other residents of the area are equally concerned, she says. She feels a speed ramp would help the situation.

CHANGE URGENTLY NEEDED

Councillor Noel McCarthy shares her viewpoint about the dangerous junction and the placing of the traffic lights below it.

“It’s deadly dangerous” he said. “I’ve raised this before with the council. The lights should be on the junction itself, where motorists find it hard to exit from the roads on either side, and not down from it where motorists aren’t expecting them to be and consequently are taken unawares, causing them to sometimes go through red lights.”
He said the situation has been exacerbated by the opening of the new Aldi store.

“It’s bringing new people into that area of the town who may be unaware of the position of the traffic lights down from the junction,” he points out. “The lights should be moved, put at the junction,” he stressed. He’s vowed to continue to campaign for that change to be made.