Londonderry: Caw roundabout safety calls after bus crash

There have long been calls for the roundabout to be upgraded

There have been renewed calls for safety improvements at a roundabout in Londonderry that has one of Northern Ireland's highest accident rates.

In the latest crash on the Caw roundabout, a passenger was injured when a Translink bus collided with a lorry on Tuesday.

Damhán Lindsay suffered a fractured wrist and sustained cuts after broken glass fell on top of him.

He said without improved safety, somebody would get "really hurt".

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today programme, Damhán said he had been traveling to work "when all of a sudden there was a crash".

"I felt the glass from the window shatter on top of me. It cut my hands, my knuckles, my leg, ear and head. I have a fracture in my scaphoid bone in my left wrist."

Damhán Lindsay said the incident had been 'scary and traumatic'.

The roundabout in the Waterside area of the city is one of Derry's busiest junctions, dealing with traffic from four main roads, including Crescent Link and the Foyle Bridge.

Police figures show there were 24 collisions at the roundabout in 2021 - more than at any other junction in Northern Ireland.

Translink said it was carrying out an investigation into Tuesday's incident and assisting police with their enquiries.

"It is a joke there is not traffic lights there, somebody could have been killed yesterday," said Mr Lindsay.

"The roundabout is far too big. Look at the other side of the bridge where there are lights. It is far safer."

There have long been calls for the roundabout to be upgraded to include traffic lights and slip lanes, similar to the Culmore roundabout at the cityside of the Foyle bridge.

Damhán wants similar measures introduced at Caw as there are at the Culmore roundabout

Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan is due to meet the permanent secretary of the Department for Infrastructure later on Wednesday and will raise concerns over the roundabout.

"Traffic there is travelling at speed on occasion, when these collisions happen they are serious, they cause damage and they cause significant injury," he said.

A further 200 homes are currently under construction in the area and there are plans to build 600 more in the coming years.

It was imperative concerns are addressed now, said Mr Durkan.

The Department for Infrastructure said it was in talks with developers, who are building hundreds of houses nearby, to try and agree a way to upgrade the Caw roundabout.

Any plan is subject to planning permission and funding, it added.