A man has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving following single-vehicle collision that closed a section of the M18 motorway in Co Clare for a time this evening.
Emergency services received a report at around 6.00pm that a vehicle had collided with the roadside and central crash barriers in the southbound lanes of the motorway between junctions 12 and 11.
It appears that the car collided with the inside steel crash barrier before crossing both lanes of the motorway and striking the central concrete barrier. The car, which was extensively damage, then came to a stop about 100 metres from the scene of the initial collision.
Gardaí quickly reached the location and found the crashed vehicle had come to a stop in the hard shoulder. A considerable amount of debris and car parts were left strewn across the motorway following the collision.
After speaking with the driver, Gardaí arrested him on suspicion of drink driving and took him to Ennis Garda station to be processed. The man was uninjured in the collision.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis station also responded to the incident along with fire crews from Shannon. The southbound lanes of the M18 were closed for a time to allow emergency services to safely deal with the incident.
Fire crews spent some time clearing debris from the roadway before the scene was declared safe. Traffic Infrastructure Ireland motorway maintenance crews also attended the incident to assess the extent of the damage caused to the barriers. Once that inspection had been completed and the crashed vehicle had been removed from the scene by a recovery crew, the motorway was reopened to traffic.
After the driver was processed at Ennis Garda station he was released pending further investigation.