A US tourist who was visiting family in Whitehall, County Westmeath, was killed and his wife was seriously injured in a two-vehicle collision while driving to Dublin Airport to return home. 

Joe Marroquin became this week's fourth victim of road traffic accidents this week in Ireland when he was killed in a two-vehicle collision on the Castlepollard to Mullingar road, in Westmeath, on Wednesday, July 3. 

Joe and Cathy both have Irish ancestry and were visiting family in Whitehall, Westmeath. The couple were driving toward Dublin Airport when the accident took place on the R394 at Gartlandstown, Castlepollard, at around 5.30 am. They were on their way home to Texas following their vacation.

The man in his 80s was the passenger in one of the vehicles and was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife is described by MidlandsFM as being in "critical condition".  She is being treated at the Midlands Regional Hospital, in Tullamore. 

Two men in the second car, aged in their 30s and 20s, were taken to hospitals in Mullingar and Tullamore, with what are described as non-life-threatening injuries.

The police have urged the public to "exercise extreme caution and stay safe". RTE reports that since Sunday evening four people have been killed on Ireland's roads. 

On Wednesday evening, Superintendent Liam Geraghty said these incidents "once again clearly demonstrate the tragedy that can befall anyone of us."

"No person wakes up and goes out on our roads to cause or be involved in a traffic collision, in particular, no person intends to cause someone's death or be fatally injured."

He continued by appealing "to all road users, in whatever way you use the road, to exercise extreme caution and stay safe, in particular to all drivers please slow down and protect everyone on our roads."

So far this year, 97 people have died on Irish roads, which is an increase of 12 fatalities in the same period in 2023.