Five teens killed in wrong-way crash on Irish motorway

Five teenagers — all male — are dead after a car traveling the wrong way on a highway in Ireland slammed head-on into another vehicle early Sunday morning. The crash occurred around 3 a.m. on the M9 motorway near junction 3, about 30 miles southwest of Dublin.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described the scene as “horrific” and said the driver of the wrong-way vehicle may have been trying to record a stunt for social media. “In some cases, vehicles are being driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes,” Kelly told reporters at a press conference Sunday afternoon. “This reckless behavior, following the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous it is.”

The deceased were all occupants of the same car, Gardaí confirmed. Their bodies were taken to Naas General Hospital, where autopsies will be performed. Four other people were seriously injured in the second vehicle: three women in their 20s and 30s, and a male child. All remain hospitalized.

Emergency services first received reports of a vehicle traveling southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M9. Before officers could intercept it, the car collided with the oncoming vehicle between junctions 3 and 4. Wreckage littered the highway for hours, with forensic collision investigators working through the morning.

Family liaison officers have been assigned to the relatives of both vehicles. “These family members were traveling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway,” Kelly said.

The incident has been referred to Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, which automatically investigates any fatal road traffic incident involving contact with Gardaí. “A referral does not necessarily mean a garda or gardaí have been accused of wrongdoing,” a Fiosrú statement explained. “It means that Fiosrú should independently investigate to ascertain whether the act or omission of a garda may have resulted in death or serious harm.”

This is the second wrong-way crash on Irish motorways in as many weeks. Last weekend, nine people were injured in a similar head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin, also caused by a car driving against traffic.

Social media stunt culture under scrutiny

The Garda commissioner’s explicit linking of the crash to social media behavior has raised fresh questions about the role of online platforms in encouraging dangerous driving. In the United States, wrong-way crashes account for about 3% of all highway fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but they are disproportionately deadly. A 2023 NHTSA study found that wrong-way crashes are roughly 27 times more likely to result in a fatality than other types of collisions.

“We’re seeing a disturbing trend where drivers, often young men, deliberately drive the wrong way to film themselves for likes on TikTok or Instagram,” said Dr. Emily Carson, a traffic safety researcher at the University of Michigan. “They don’t realize that a split-second mistake at highway speeds is almost always fatal for everyone involved.”

Neither Gardaí nor Fiosrú has confirmed whether the driver of the wrong-way vehicle was among the deceased. The five teenagers have not been publicly named pending notification of next of kin. Authorities have appealed for dashcam footage from any motorists traveling on the M9 between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday.

The road has since reopened. Gardaí continue to investigate the circumstances, including the point at which the vehicle entered the wrong carriageway. “My thoughts are also with all members of An Garda Síochána and the emergency services who had to deal with this awful incident this morning,” Kelly added. “Such incidents show the difficult work we ask our gardaí to undertake every day to keep our communities safe.”

The crash comes amid a broader debate in Ireland about road safety, with 2025 on track to be one of the deadliest years on Irish roads in a decade. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has launched a campaign targeting young male drivers, who account for a disproportionate share of fatal collisions.