PSNI chief says 'nothing off the table' in attempt to end road carnage 'epidemic'

Nothing “will be off the table” as police and partner agencies seek to reduce the death toll on Northern Ireland’s roads, the chief constable has said.

Jon Boutcher described the rate of road fatalities as an “epidemic” – commenting in response to calls for safety improvements following two further deaths on the A5 in Co Tyrone.

Jamie Moore, 19, and 17-year-old girl Kamile Vaicikonyte, a pupil at St Ciaran’s College Ballygawley, were killed in a single-vehicle collision on the A5 Doogary Road near Omagh on Tuesday evening.

More than 50 people have now been killed on the main road between Aughnacloy and Londonderry since 2006, while improvement works have suffered delays and legal challenges.

Addressing a meeting of the NI Policing Board on Thursday, Mr Boutcher also referred to a road tragedy near Armagh city in March.

"We obviously had four other young people killed very recently in a single car accident as well,” he said.

"Nothing is off the table as to what we will do to address this epidemic that we are seeing on our roads."

Mr Boutcher described the road casualty figures, on both sides of the Irish border, as “incredibly worrying,” and said: “I am also alive to this being a real partnership issue. That road, I know there has been a public inquiry, and now we’re waiting for the road to be approved for a dual carriageway.

"I am aware that one of the victims had been at a meeting before the tragic accident, the events of this week, about this very issue.

"We will meet the infrastructure minister, and we will do anything and everything within our power to make sure, whether it’s through speed reduction, more [police] visibility, that we do our part in making sure we do our part in making sure that we prevent these tragedies from occurring again.”

Commenting specifically on the A5 death toll in recent years, Mr Boutcher said: “Everybody knows that’s not acceptable. Whatever we need to do, we’ll do, but I haven’t got the resources to do what I want to do in any part of the business”.

ACC Melanie Jones told the board that a meeting with infrastructure minister John O’Dowd had been arranged for early June.

The senior officer stressed that nothing she said was a comment on the cause of the latest collision, and added: “We are already prioritising speed enforcement on the A5.

"We have worked through where we need to have the speed detection vans, and also the visible Road Policing officers, and they are already deployed and actively trying to do what they can”.

In an emotive message on social media on Thursday, St Ciaran’s College pupil Triniti Kelemen said: “My best friend was a victim of the collision.

"I will always remember you, Kamile. I miss you #EnoughIsEnough. The A5 road needs serious changes.”

Ms Kelemen added: "My best-friend and her boyfriend wasn’t the first, and won’t be the last to die on that road. It’s been 17 years since we’ve been waiting for a change. MAKE IT HAPPEN ASAP!”

The PSNI has appealed for anyone who witnessed the collision to come forward.