Five teenage boys died on Aug. 16 after the car they were travelling in drove on the wrong side of a motorway outside Dublin and collided head-on with a vehicle carrying three women and a boy, Ireland's police service, the Gardai, said.
Five teenagers killed in wrong-way motorway crash near Dublin; police cite social media role in dangerous driving
Five teenage boys died on Aug. 16 after the car they were travelling in drove on the wrong side of a motorway outside Dublin and collided head-on with a vehicle carrying three women and a boy, Ireland's police service, the Gardai, said.
The three women and the boy in the second vehicle remained in hospital with serious injuries as of Aug. 16, police said. The crash is the second head-on collision in Ireland in August involving a car travelling in the wrong direction.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the behavior that caused the crash was made worse by the fact that, in some cases, dangerous driving is recorded for social media engagement. 'What makes this reckless behavior even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves,' Kelly said. He did not specify which platforms videos were being posted to.
Irish media has reported multiple instances in recent years of dangerous driving videos posted on social media. Kelly's remarks add to broader international criticism of social media platform designs and their effects on children, with governments drawing up a range of restrictions following curbs Australia introduced in 2025.
Several social media companies, including TikTok and YouTube, have adopted policies prohibiting content showing or promoting dangerous stunts or challenges that could cause physical harm, following years of lax enforcement that drew political scrutiny. In July, the European Union escalated a probe of TikTok under the Digital Services Act, examining whether the platform's recommendation systems are designed to maximise engagement by minors at the expense of their safety. In 2024, Italy's competition authority fined ByteDance's TikTok €10 million for failing to protect children and vulnerable people from a dangerous viral challenge. Separately, social video platforms previously faced criticism after a 'blackout challenge' trend was linked to several deaths of children.
- The source does not state the ages of the five teenagers who died.
- The source does not identify the specific social media platforms on which videos of dangerous driving in Ireland were posted.
- The source does not state whether any videos related to this particular crash were posted on social media.
- The source does not provide details on the nature or current status of the injuries sustained by the survivors in the second vehicle.
- The source does not state the specific motorway or precise location outside Dublin where the crash occurred.
- The source does not provide a response or statement from any social media company regarding this incident.
Read the original at The Straits Times