The crash took place just days after a group of teens lost their lives driving the wrong way down the M9 in Ireland14:07, 20 Aug 2026Updated 15:34, 20 Aug 2026A group of joyriders have crashed after driving the wrong way down the M50 in Ireland - just days after five teens were killed in a head-on collision pulling the same stunt on the M9.‌The terrifying incident took place at around 3:30am on Thursday morning, the Irish Mirror reports, after officers first spotted the vehicle, believed to have been stolen earlier that evening, hurtling down the motorway in Dublin's Ballymun area.‌The vehicle did not stop and is understood to have driven the wrong way up the M50 before exiting the motorway and continuing to drive against traffic.‌Gardai were told not to pursue the speeding vehicle, which was later found crashed and abandoned in a nearby suburb of Ashtown.A Garda spokesman later confirmed they have launched a probe "following an incident of dangerous driving".‌"Gardaí on patrol responded to an incident of dangerous driving on St. Margaret’s Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on Thursday 20th August 2026 at approximately 3:30am," the spokesperson said."The driver of the vehicle failed to stop for Gardaí. The suspect vehicle did not collide with any other vehicle. The suspect vehicle was subsequently recovered by Gardaí. Investigations are ongoing."The incident comes just days after a group of five teens were killed in a crash after speeding down the M9 in a BMW and colliding head-first into another vehicle carrying three women and a young boy.‌Jeremy O’Brien, 18, and Alex McCarthy, 17 from Carlow; Jack Kennedy, 17, and Joey Carthy, 15 from Athy in Kildare, and Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick, all lost their lives.The passengers in the other car including sisters Niamh Kinsella, Alma Kinsella and Ella Hendricken, all received serious injuries.‌GRA vice-president John Joe O’Connell said on Monday that there were “numerous gangs” of boys and young men “trying to outdo each other” in social media videos depicting interactions with Gardaí, pursuits and wrong-way driving.Stating that his officers would no longer pursue such riders, he added: "Our members are not going to follow down that route – we’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, that way."Mr O’Connell criticised those partaking in wrong-way driving as “playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives”. He urged parents to talk to their sons about the potential consequences if they get into a stolen car “for the craic and the clicks”.Article continues belowBoth incidents come after nine people were injured in a head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin with a car travelling in the wrong direction on the motorway the previous weekend.