A MOTORIST HAD a near miss with a cow on the motorway in Co Westmeath this morning after livestock were on the loose following a separate incident.

Ciarán Flynn posted footage to social media of his near miss on the M6 outside Rochfortbridge in Co Westmeath.

He said he was “blessed” to have avoided the cow, which leapt over the median of the motorway and into oncoming traffic.

The dashcam footage shows that Flynn managed to swerve at the last moment and narrowly avoid the cow.

In a statement to The Journal, a garda spokesperson said gardaí and emergency services attended to a three-vehicle road traffic collision on the M6 Junction 3 that occurred at around 7.15am this morning.

The collision involved a car that collided with a trailer carrying livestock.

A number of livestock were loose on the road following the collision, and this resulted in the road being closed for a short period of time.

Gardaí have said that no livestock were reported as injured.

A driver of one of the vehicles was taken to Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore by ambulance for treatment of injuries, which are understood to be non-life-threatening.