Icy footpaths a tough break for pedestrians

Date Published: 24-Dec-2009

THE cold snap is taking its toll on pedestrians in the city with an increase in minor injuries due to falls on treacherously slippery footpaths.

On Monday, 15 people were treated in the A&E unit of University Hospital Galway for wrist injuries – most of them had sustained their injuries after falls on slippery footpaths.

A number of people contacted the Galway City Tribune over the dangers posed by the icy footpaths – most of them though will continue to remain a hazard with no resources available to grit the walkways.

The HSE confirmed over 15 cases of wrist injuries being treated on Monday in the A&E department following falls on the pavements of the city.

“This is a high number of wrist injuries for one day at A&E and we are advising people to be doubly careful as they walk around the town.

“If possible, people should avoid the worst of those pathways. They can be especially dangerous for older people,” said a spokesperson for the HSE.

Galway City Council Director of Services, Ciarán Hayes, told the Galway City Tribune that they had limited resources for gritting which were concentrated on the main roadways around the city.

“We just don’t have the resources to grit the hundreds of miles of paths in the city but we have done some of them in the busy city centre area,” he said.

It looks likely that the problem will ease somewhat over the next couple of days with a thaw due to set in on Christmas Morning, heralding a spell of wind and rain for Friday and St. Stephen’s Day.

However, it will remain generally cold over the weekend and into the early days of next week with wintry showers at times too – so the cold snap is not quite gone away.

Earlier this week, Galway County Council, Gardai and the National Road Safety Association joined forces in warning drivers not to travel if at all possible on some of the more treacherous county and minor roads.

Main roads throughout the county remained in reasonable condition over the past week due to an ongoing gritting programme undertaken by Galway County Council. The County Council used both salt and grit on main roads around the county in an effort to reduce the amount of accidents, making the roads safer in many cases than the footpaths.

Pet owners have also been advised by the GPSCA to take extra care of their animals during the current cold spell with a plea to feed the birds by leaving scraps of leftover food – like cooked potatoes or wet bread – in their gardens.