Time change may have saved Milltown NS pupils from fatal crash

By TOM GILMORE A CHANGE of closing time at Milltown NS, from 3.10 to 2.45, may have saved many pupilsâ€â„¢ lives when a jeep demolished up to 20 feet of a concrete perimeter wall in front of the school in a fatal crash there at 3.15 on Monday. Mayo businessman Pat Coyne (72) from Swinford died in the single vehicle crash and while a post mortem was carried out at University Hospital, Galway yesterday it has not yet been revealed if he suffered from any medical emergency while at the wheel of his vehicle. Shocked school principal Tom Casby and the teaching staff say if the former school closing time of 3.10 was still in operation on Monday up to 60 children could be waiting for the school bus or for their parents to collect them at the spot where the vehicle smashed into the concrete wall. â€Å“It is thanks to the grace of God that we changed the school finishing time as otherwise we could have had an unthinkable disaster on our hands on Monday,â€Â says the principal. Now a campaign to make the road near the school safer that has been ongoing since 2001 with the National Roads Authority and the Co Council is to be stepped up. The Board of Management, concerned parents and teachers will meet on Monday night to call for immediate action on this matter. â€Å“This is the second serious accident outside the school, in another incident involving a car and a van a parent had a lucky escape. â€Å“While the NRA have erected hazard warning lights on the N 17 road near the school it is also time that traffic calming measures and other safety issues be considered,â€Â he added. The principal and Board of Management decided that the school should remain closed yesterday (Tuesday) while workmen tried to put new temporary barriers in place along the area where the wall was demolished. The principal expressed his sympathy with the family of the man who died in the crash and he said that two teachers who were still in the school at the time of the incident were very traumatised by what had happened. Milltown NS has 83 children attending and approximately 60 of those go home at the later closing time. â€Å“Many of them would be getting on the school bus or waiting for their parents to collect them at the very spot where the vehicle hit the wall on Monday evening and it doesnâ€â„¢t bear thinking what the consequences might have been if we still operated the later closing time,â€Â said Tom Casby. Former chairman of Galway Co Council and Milltown businessman Frank Glynn said the moving out of the speed limit signs further along the route is another safety measure that is being suggested. He added that the route of the proposed dual carriageway was also changed during previous safety campaigns by the parents and it will now be located closer to the Tuam side of Milltown and away from the school. â€Å“But there are other safety measures that urgently need to be considered to make the school safer for the children and for their parents who drop them off and collect them there,â€Â says Frank. Tom Casby says that all possibilities of how they can step up the campaign to make the school safer from passing traffic will be discussed at Monday nightâ€â„¢s meeting of the Board of Management. â€Å“Something has to be done to help eliminate the risk of further accidents on our doorstep and the impact regarding injuries and trauma that such incidents could have on our children,â€Â he added. Gardai from Tuam, the emergency services, a doctor, an ambulance and Tuam fire fighters were quickly on the scene. Pat Coyne, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was well known in the tyre business across the West of Ireland and he was travelling towards Mayo from Tuam at the time of the crash. He is a father of three. The crash caused some delays in traffic on the N17 on Monday evening but diversions were put in place and the Gardai quickly restored the traffic flow to normal. Tuam Gardai say their investigations are continuing.