Drumaness Family Fears More Cars Crashing into Garden

Looking over the band bend at Old Croft Rod in Drumaness are Ballynahinch area Councillor Anne McAleenan, Road Roger Morgan, Roads Service and Mark Murnin, Ballynahinch area SDLP representative.[/caption] The problem arises from fast-moving traffic approaching the village and moving over a hump in the road into a hidden right hand bend. John Curran who has lived the for a number of years said: “It is literally terrifying. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way this part of the road is laid out. It has to be fixed before another accident takes place. To date seven cars have crashed through the fence into my garden and remarkably one of these was a police car five years ago giving chase. It was written off. None of the cars have yet struck the house but that too could be very dangerous. I have a ten year old son and it concerns me every time he goes out into the garden to play. “It seems the camber of the road is running the wrong way too which throws cars off the bend as they try and turn right. When this section of the road is icy it is even very dangerous. The road generally is sloping downhill gently and anyone braking even on a wet surface will be in real difficulties. “There is surface water that runs onto this hill from a small estate to the left of the road. That too adds to the surface water issue. If this freezes we just have thicker ice. There is a salt box on the bend but more than often the salt is emptied out of it when it is snowy or icy and there is none left to spread on the road. Road Service did say that they would go and look at what can be done to improve this situation. “The real threat from traffic is early in the morning when people are going to their work. There is a bus stop just at the bend and also even when there are no schoolchildren present, there are usually others in the evening and at weekends around. It is right next to the back of Dundrum GAC pitch and their players do come and go past our door too. “Something has to be done to set this right. Before it is too late.” Ballynahinch area Councillor Anne McAleenan said: “This is a very worrying situation for the Curran family and we have since spoken to Roads Service looking for a solution to this problem. There is a serious health and safety issue here that needs looked at quickly. It is incredible to believe that anyone should have to endure such dangers. “We hope there is a prompt response from the Road Service section given the gravity of the danger.  We will be keeping an eye on this case too to see how it progresses. Drivers do need to slow down as it is a very dangerous section of road.” [caption id="attachment_36106" align="aligncenter" width="570"] John Curran outside his home in Old Croft Road in Drumaness when seven cars had crashed into his garden because of a dangerous bend.[/caption]]]>