Victim of Kildare hit & run feared she would be killed
The woman had parked near the gate of Barretstown Cemetery
A woman thought she was going to die after being a victim of a hit and run in Kildare on Thursday afternoon.
The woman was struck by a passing vehicle while standing beside her parked car at Barretstown cemetery close to Newbridge at around 4.50pm.
The woman had stopped briefly to get water for her dog from St Patrick’s well at the cemetery. She parked her vehicle fully off the road where it was not obstructing passing traffic.
The road has a 60km/h speed limit.
The left side of the woman’s body was struck in the incident.
The vehicle involved was described as a white van, driven by a lone male. The driver did not stop at the scene. The alleged victim was assisted by another road user who contacted emergency services.
The woman was transported by ambulance to Naas General Hospital for medical assessment. No fractures were identified but she sustained significant soft tissue injuries, including bruising to the left side of her body.
The woman, who did not wished to be named, told the Kildare Nationalist: “The van was going very fast and didn’t slow down at all. After it hit me, I was screaming in pain, but the driver just kept going. It was terrifying — I thought he was going to kill me.”
“There’s already been a fatal crash on that stretch, and it just doesn’t feel safe. Something needs to be done to enforce the speed limit before someone else is injured or killed.”
The woman told us that she had to park in a narrow and dangerous location between the road and the fence of the cemetery with her car door opening onto the road, where vehicles travel at speeds in excess of 100 km/h. She said that because of this dangerous situation she was “was almost killed”.
The woman told us that it would have been safer to park in front of the cemetery gate entrance but there is a sign asking for the entrance to be kept clear. She said that if she ignored the sign and parked there, she would not have been hit.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or who may have dash cam footage from the area at the time is asked to contact An Garda Síochána at Newbridge Garda Station on 045 440 180.
Gardaí confirmed to the Kildare Nationalist that they attended the scene of a hit and run on Barretstown Road, Newbridge just before 5pm.
Investigations are ongoing into the incident.
There was a fatal collision on the Barretstown Road last year when a 19-year-old died in a single-vehicle collision.
