Fatal crash scene like bomb site
The scene of a crash in which a father-of-two and a teenager lost their lives was like a bomb site, an inquest heard tonight.
William Murphy, 25, who was driving one of the cars involved, and his neighbour, James Moorehouse, 17, from Kilcoole, Co Wicklow died after the Toyota Corona spun out of control around 8pm on the evening of December 6, 2004.
The Dublin City Coroner’s Court heard the car crossed over the median line in the road before impacting heavily with a Mitsubishi Pajero four-wheel drive vehicle on the road between Kilcoole and Newtown Mount Kennedy.
Gda Patrick McCallion, a public service vehicle inspector, said there was a colossal amount of damage done to the Toyota car.
“It was a really serious impact,” he said. “Very little could be ascertained about the condition of the Corona before the accident. It was like a bomb site.”
Fellow officer, Darren Lyons, from Greystones Garda Station, said: “There was debris scattered all over the road,”
The inquest heard Mr Moorehouse, father-of-two Mr Murphy, his brother Thomas Murphy and another man Kumar Zaman were all thrown from the vehicle upon impact.
Thomas Murphy, who had a broken neck and a collapsed lung from the accident, said he could not remember anything after getting into his brother’s car to travel to the chip-shop in Newtown Mount Kennedy
“It was just like someone turned out the light,” he said.
Derek McGuinness, the driver of the Mitsubishi Pajero, said he was travelling on the road to Kilcoole when he was dazzled by headlights close to the Druids Glen Golf Club.
Mr McGuinness, who received two broken ankles and extensive bruising, said he had to swerve in towards the wall but he still collided with the car and his vehicle flipped over.
“I was on my side of the road when the accident happened,” he said, adding he heard a noise like an engine being driven at speed before the crash.
Sgt Colm Finn, from the traffic division at Dublin Castle, said: “As the Toyota rounded a slight right hand bend, they lost control of the vehicle and it started rotating clockwise before it collided with the Mitsubishi.”
Sgt Finn, who said speed was a factor in the fatal accident, said the car had crossed over the line marking the centre of the road before the collision. He said there were marks on the road after both cars collided indicated the point of collision.
The road at the time of the accident carried a speed-limit of 60 miles-per-hour (100kmph), and the maximum speed a driver could negotiate the bend at without losing control was 62 miles-per-hour.
The inquest heard both men died on December 7, 2004 from severe head injuries along with multiple injuries.
The jury passed a verdict of accidental death in both cases.
Dublin City Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said to the families of both men, including Mr Murphy’s wife and young son, that the accident was an appalling tragedy.
