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Residents of Mullingar Road in Kells say they risk their lives every time they leave their homes due to speeding and poor visibility in the area.

Residents in the Caliaghstown and Balrath areas are terrified of the loss of life and have spoken of the frequency and seriousness of accidents that have occurred on this stretch of road.

They renewed calls for traffic calming following a recent accident in which a young woman was seriously injured and a local resident was lucky not to be killed when a car hit her gate moments before she tried to open it.

Concerns were raised about the safety of young people waiting for school buses on the road and local drivers leaving their homes who face very poor visibility.

Two people have already died in accidents in this area, and there have been countless collisions and dangerous situations over the years.

The gate and pillars of Hannah Walsh’s home were struck by cars three times in horrific crashes, and in two cases family members escaped death by seconds.

Just two weeks ago, there was an accident in which a young woman was injured when her car hit the gate of Hannah’s house.

“The last accident happened at about 7:30 a.m. I usually leave for work at that time. The gate, pillars and fence were damaged. A few seconds later I would have gotten out of the car to open the gate. It was terrifying.”

Four years ago, Hannah’s teenage daughter got lucky when a car pulled into the driveway of their family home just minutes after she returned home.

Just a few months earlier, another car had hit the gate and pillars.

“This has happened three times now. My teenage daughters are standing there waiting for the school bus. I can’t let them do this anymore, I’m going to have to drive them to school myself,” she said.

“The road is extremely dangerous and there are constant speeding violations. Someone was killed outside my neighbour’s house 20 years ago and there was another fatal accident about four years ago.

“It’s scary to pull out of driveways because visibility is so bad and cars are coming at such high speeds,” she said.

Her neighbour, Trevor Murray, said there had been a number of very serious accidents. “This road is just dangerous and people are risking their lives when they come out of their doors. It’s so bad that when the fire service gets a call about an accident on this road, they know exactly where to go.”

Lisa Smith said the area was a terrible black spot. “Visibility is very poor and when a car comes out of the driveway, traffic is on it.

“We’ve had a huge number of crashes, including fatalities. We need traffic-calming measures before more people die.”

“My brother lives next door. He has special needs and the bus comes to take him to work every day. It’s scary to think about having an accident while he’s waiting or getting on the bus.”

Pamela Smith said the road was deadly. “When you leave your house, you can’t see any distance along the road. I often went out and had to quickly reverse back.

“The problems are getting worse. It is very congested and the traffic is fast.

There is a 60 km/h speed limit but the only people who obey it are locals. We have two large roundabouts nearby which do not help. It is very worrying.”

Conni Murray said they have been campaigning for years for traffic calming. I grew up here and remember my mother campaigning when I was at school for lower speed limits.

“It’s so dangerous. We have little kids living on the road and we have teenagers waiting for school buses. It’s unacceptable.

“We’ve had fatalities and it’s only a matter of time before there are more if we don’t do anything.”

Undersheriff Darren O’Rourke said traffic calming measures have already gone through the planning process and funding is now needed.

“This community has long been forced to fight for its rights. It seems incredible that at a time when road deaths are rising and the cost of road safety is increasing, funding for this project has not yet been secured. I have contacted the Minister, the Irish Department of Transport and will continue to press for this funding and I ask the Government representatives in this area to do the same,” the Meath East TD said.