Driver sparks terror as car driven 'like Grand Theft Auto' wrong way down road in St Luke's 

A car was driven the wrong way down a busy road in Cork city, “like it was in Grand Theft Auto”, almost hitting pedestrians.

This occurred just hours after the horror M9 crash which killed five teenagers and seriously injured a family of four.

One witness told The Echo that she thought she was going to be killed when she saw a car hurtling towards her in St Luke’s, on the city’s northside, after 5pm on Monday.

“It was like the driver thought he was in Grand Theft Auto and would get points for the more people he hit,” she said.

“He was heading straight towards me on the pavement, and I thought I was going to die. Then he suddenly veered off and headed straight towards a car with a family, including a small child, in the back.”

“But he wrenched control again and veered away from them, going the wrong way through St Luke’s Cross,” the witness said.

The car then crashed into the footpath by the former church — a busy area for pedestrians, next to a primary school. The area underwent recent work to make it safer for children and crossing.

“People were shouting: ‘Get the registration plate’ and ‘call the gardaí’. He managed to somehow get the car started again and came straight back up the road on the wrong side again,” she said.

“The car was lurching out of control. People were shouting for someone to stop him.”

The car stalled and a man ran up, reached in the open window and pulled the keys from the ignition, passing them to someone he knew in the crowd.

“The driver got out of the car. He was a young man in his 20s or late teens,” the witness said. “He had short, dark hair and pale skin, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

“He took off his T-shirt and wiped down the inside of the car for fingerprints, and then he legged it up the road with his top off.

“Apparently he got on the number seven bus then and left.”

He had already been involved in a crash on nearby Dillons Cross earlier that day, the witness said.

She described the car as badly damaged, possibly with a broken axle, and it was driving with a blown-out tyre.

The car, a black Opel Insignia with a Cork registration plate, was abandoned at the busy junction, facing the wrong way on the road for some time, with a local man directing traffic before gardaí arrived, she said.

The witness, who lives in the area, said that she has noticed an increase in criminality in the area recently.