A free concert will be held in Ballyvaughan this Saturday on the first anniversary of the death of a man in a road traffic collision.
Jeremiah (Jerry) O’Connor died after his motorcycle was involved in a collision with car driven by a French tourist. The crash occurred on the N67 on the outskirts of Ballyvaughan.
The driver was later arrested, charged and has already appeared in court in relation to the fatal crash.
Since the tragic loss of her husband on July 27th last year, Helga Himmelsbach has been campaigning for improved road safety measures in North Clare. She has repeatedly expressed anger that nothing has been done by the authorities to improve road safety in the region in area since the fatal crash.
This Saturday, on the first anniversary of Jerry’s death, a free concert will be held in Ballyvaughan. The ‘Musicians For Road Safety” event will take place between 3 & 4pm this Saturday (July 27th) and will feature local talent. The meeting place for anyone attending is the Church carpark at 2.45pm.
Speaking in advanced of this Saturday’s event, Helga Himmelsbach said: “I am taking Jerry’s horrible anniversary to highlight the fact that the authorities haven’t done anything to prevent similar accidents from happening in North Clare and the entire county.
Jerry’s death could have been easily prevented. Just one sign to remind foreign tourists which side of the road to travel on at the T junction in Ballyvaughan; arrows at all junctions and reduced speed going into blind bends. Nothing of this nature has been done.”
There were eight people killed on the roads in Clare in 2023 while four others have died so far this year. One of those may have been as a result of the driver suffering a medical episode however the incident is still being investigated as a road traffic collision.
In the past ten years, there have been six fatal road traffic collisions involving motorcycles. In one tragic accident, in June 2014, two motorcyclists died when they collided with each other near Lisdoonvarna.
In another, the passenger in a car died following a collision with a motorbike which left the motorcyclist with serious injuries.