A motorcyclist has been seriously injured following a collision involving a bus along an accident black spot in Co Carlow.
Gardaí and emergency services remain at the scene of the road traffic collision on the N80 at Closh, close to the village of Ballon at 10.45am on Sunday.
In a statement gardai said: “The collision involving a bus and a motorcycle occurred at approximately 10:45am.”
The scene of the collision is preserved pending a garda technical examination.
The statement added: “The road is closed at this time and local diversions are in place. No further information is available at this time.”
The injured man aged in his 40s has been airlifted to hospital with what are believed to be serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Gardai in Carlow are appealing for any witnesses or anyone travelling the road at the time who may have dashcam footage and they can be contacted on 059-9136620.
The notoriously dangerous stretch of road which has claimed the lives of several people is to have a series of bends removed.
Three young friends lost their lives on the road when the car they were travelling in hit a tree in Co Carlow last January.
A safety scheme is being developed for the Leagh Bends section of the Carlow to Wexford road by Carlow County Council in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which will lead to the dangerous bends being removed along a 3km section of the road.
The road is part of the busy primary access route from Dublin to Rosslare Europort.
Daryl Culbert, 21, from Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, Katie Graham, 19, from Arles, Co Laois and Michael Kelly, 25, from Nurney, Co Carlow were killed when the red Lexus car they were travelling in left the N80 in the townland of Leagh, less than 10km from Carlow town, and crashed into a tree at around 11.30pm on January 31st.
A fourth occupant of the car, a man in his 20s from Ballinabrannagh, Co Carlow, was treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries in Beaumont Hospital.
According to locals, the stretch of road where the collision occurred is generally regarded as dangerous, with several serious crashes occurring in recent times.
Last September, a man died following a two-vehicle collision on the N80 at Gráig Na Spideog, a short distance from where the three young people lost their lives on Wednesday night.
Up to eight people have been killed in accidents on the road.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Jennifer Murnane O'Connor welcomed plans to remove the dangerous bends on the N80.
Deputy Murnane O’Connor received confirmation from Taoiseach Simon Harris that a safety scheme is being developed.
She highlighted that there has been a “marked increase in collisions” on the particular section of the road “in the past 18 months, including the most recent tragic incident at the end of January this year.”
The deputy added: “This much-needed safety scheme will result in a number of dangerous bends at this notoriously unsafe location being removed. Strategic safety cameras will also be installed by the gardaí in a bid to improve road safety.”
TII has issued approval to Carlow County Council to progress the Leagh Bends minors scheme to detailed design and planning approval stage.
It is anticipated that the Council will submit a planning application to An Bord Pleanála before the end of July.
