Community “shocked” following a high speed crash in Crossgar village.
There has been widespread condemnation following the crash on the Downpatrick Road in Crossgar early on Monday morning and police are still investigating the incident.
Sinn Féin Slieve Croob Cllr Cathy Mason has said the local community are “shocked” following a high speed crash in Crossgar village early on Monday morning.
Cllr Mason said: “This morning at just before 5am in Crossgar, a car came racing into the village, colliding with several parked vehicles and subsequently caused significant damage to a local business, Carmen’s Inn.
“The local community have been left shocked by what has happened.
“It is a miracle that neither the occupants of the vehicle, nor local residents were killed following his reckless incident.
“There is absolutely no place for this type of behaviour in our society and those responsible must now face the full rigour of the law.
Rowallene Alliance Cllr Patrick Brown said: “I was shocked to see the carnage caused by a car crashing in Crossgar in the early hours of Monday morning damaging another three in its wake.
“It is very lucky that no loss of life occurred and I hope those injured make a speedy recovery.
“This crash has caused significant damage to property, not just to vehicles but also to the bus stop and la ocal businesses. I
“t is very clear that for this much damage to happen, the Volkswagen Golf involved must have been travelling well in excess of the 30mph speed limit.
“It is therefore also clear that this was not an accident but was caused by the reckless negligence of a driver. I trust that the PSNI will be making all necessary inquires to discover the cause of this, and hold individuals to account where necessary for any damage and injury caused.
“Crossgar has seen a huge increase in ‘boy racer’ activity recently, and whilst it is not known whether that has anything to do with this crash, I will be appealing to the PSNI to monitor the village more closely to crack down on this sort of behaviour in coming weeks.”
Councillor Billy Walker said that he was “alarmed” when he heard about the crash in Crossgar and added: “Thank goodness no-one was badly injured or killed in this horrific crash in the early hours of Monday in Crossgar.
“If this had happened at any other time the outcomes could have been very tragic as the main street in Crossgar is a main road from the Downpatrick area to Belfast.
“If this vehicle was doing in excess of 100mph then it was totally reckless. There is a 30mph speed limit on the Downpatrick Road. The driver needs to face the full brunt of the law.
“Drivers do need to take care whatever the time of day or night. I’m thankful there are no fatalities. Given the photographs I’ve seen, it is surprising no-one was killed.”
A local resident close to the scene of the crash on the Downpatrick Road in the centre of Crossgar speaking to Down News said: “There has been a lot of racing along this road in the early hours of the morning recently and a car actually sped into the Westlands estate just the other day at full throttle. This needs to be stopped.”
Check Cllr Terry Andrews statement at the scene of the crash on the link attached below from an earlier post:
