Investigate road where my car flipped over, says boxer Carruth

SUV aquaplaned before overturning on the slip road leading onto the Long Mile Road

‘I was expecting the worst when I was spinning about,’ said Olympic boxer Michael Carruth about a crash he had over the weekend while driving near the Red Cow Roundabout in Dublin. Photograph: The Irish Times
‘I was expecting the worst when I was spinning about,’ said Olympic boxer Michael Carruth about a crash he had over the weekend while driving near the Red Cow Roundabout in Dublin. Photograph: The Irish Times

Olympic boxer Michael Carruth has called on road safety authorities to examine a road where he had a serious crash on Saturday morning.

His SUV aquaplaned and overturned on the slip road leading onto the Long Mile Road from the Red Cow roundabout in Dublin last Saturday morning.

He told the Today with Sean O'Rourke Show on RTÉ a garda who arrived on the scene told him the road was a crash black spot and that collisions happened there on a weekly basis.

“Something should be done about that,” he said.

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A spokesman for Transport Infrastructure Ireland said the collision was being investigated. He was unable to confirm if the location had a higher than average rate of collisions.

Mr Carruth said he was driving within the speed limit at the time of the crash and it was raining. He said the car started veering to the left, made one or two spins, then hit a kerb and flipped over.

“I knew I was in trouble when it flipped. Fortunately it was on the passenger side, there was no one with me.

“I was upside down. I could see feet walking towards me. It was a man from an AA van who stopped, he opened the door and asked me could I move and gave me a hand out. He called the police.

“I was lucky that a car or truck didn’t hit me or that I didn’t hit anyone else. It was an out of body experience.

“I was wondering, what the hell is happening here? The car just took control of itself.”

The gold medalist said his ribs were sore and at the urging of his wife and sisters he was going to “get checked out” today.

“I was expecting the worst when I was spinning about. Someone was keeping an eye out for me.”