Updated: 11.58 am

GARDAÍ AND emergency services were on the scene of a multiple road collision on the M7 South between J16 and J17 at Portlaoise earlier today.

Senior engineer with the council Michael O’Hora told TheJournal.ie that the incident occurred when one juggernaut, parked in “widespread and dense fog” on the hard shoulder, was struck by another. The crash then spilled onto the road and caused traffic to back up.

“A number of incidents occurred between 8.30 and 9.30 this morning,”  O’Hora said, “We have no reports of serious injuries so far, however one car was badly damaged.”

O’Hora said that crashes were not common on that stretch of road but that motorists had not been responding properly to weather conditions. He added that, in general, drivers were underestimating the changes they needed to make when driving on motorways.

“Long lengths of motorway are new to us and people are not driving to meet the circumstances. Today I was shocked to see people driving at or above the speed limit in those weather conditions,” he said.

O’Hora reminded drivers that it is never safe to park on a hard shoulder – particularly in dense fog.

Meanwhile, the AA reports that gardaí had been dealing with up to 15 crashes on the route. They urged motorists to slow down.

The road reopened at midday.