A section of the M18 motorway at Dromoland Co Clare has been reopened following an earlier road traffic collision.
The single-vehicle crash occurred shortly before 8.00am in the northbound lanes of the motorway just past the off-ramp at junction 11 at Dromoland. A car collided with the central crash barrier and came to a stop in the over-taking lane.
Units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Shannon and Ennis stations responded to the incident along with National Ambulance Service paramedics and Gardaí.
While traffic continued to pass the scene initially fire crews quickly closed both lanes of the motorway and put an emergency traffic management system in place. This resulted in a 500m stretch of the motorway being closed to ensure emergency services could work safely at the scene.
Soon afterwards, traffic was diverted up the off-ramp and away from the area.
In the meantime, paramedics assessed the female driver and sole occupant of the car. Despite the extensive damage caused to the car, the woman sustained only minor injuries and did not require hospitalisation.
Traffic Infrastructure Ireland (TII) motorway crews also attended the incident to assess damage to the barrier.
The car was safely removed from the scene shortly after 9.00am and after debris and engine fluids were cleared from the roadway, the motorway was fully reopened at 9.22am.
Fire crews used their fire appliances to form a rolling roadblock to slowly and safely get backed up traffic moving again.
