Update – 8.20pm: Gardaí have confirmed: “Due to a single vehicle collision the M18 between junctions 12 and 11 southbound have been closed.
The road will remain closed until tomorrow afternoon until Garda Forensic Collision Investigators have completed an examination of the scene. Traffic is being diverted at Junction 12 via Clarecastle, Manus and Latoon to rejoin the motorway at Junction 11.
Further updates will appear on An Garda Síochána Clare’s Facebook.
Earlier: A section of the M18 motorway is currently closed following an earlier road traffic incident.
A five kilometre section of the southbound carriageway is affected between junction 12 Killoo and junction 11 at the Dromoland/Clare Inn interchange.
It’s understood that a car was reported to be driving in the wrong direction on the motorway at around 5.25pm. Emergency services were alerted and responded to the incident.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service Ennis and Shannon stations, who had been dealing with a vehicle fire further north along the same route, responded to the incident along with Gardaí and National Ambulance Service paramedics.
The car is believed to have travelled north towards Ennis in the southbound lanes. It’s also understood that the driver may have suffered a medical episode and inadvertently entered the southbound lanes and travelled in the wrong direction. It’s not know however where the vehicle entered the motorway.
Details of the incident are still vague but oncoming traffic managed to avoid the vehicle which eventually collided with the central barrier and came to a stop.
The male driver was assessed and treated at the scene before being removed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment. He is understood to be in a critical condition.
The M18 between junctions 12 and 11 southbound have been closed and traffic diverted. The route is expected to remain closed until Garda Forensic Collision Investigators complete an examination of the scene.
Earlier this month, a motorist died after his vehicle collided with a crash barrier on the N85 in Clare.
The incident occurred on June 3rd on the N85 Western Relief Road near Ennis. The route connects the M18 motorway with roads to west and north Clare.
It’s understood that a vehicle was seen colliding with a roadside barrier at least once before coming to a stop on the footpath. It’s believed that the male in his 40s suffered a medical episode. He was pronounced dead later in hospital.