An inquest has heard there were 70 crashes on a bend near Strokestown in the space of 20 years. Roscommon Coroner's Court heard three were fatal and six caused serious injuries. This inquest heard the details of the death of a 40-year-old man in a single-vehicle crash on the N5 at Cloonfree near Strokestown on July 26th, 2023. Father-of-one Brian Mullins, from Gold Cave Cresent in Tuam, died at the scene.
The inquest heard there was no evidence of driver fault, such as mobile phone use.
According to garda evidence, he was driving in the direction of Strokestown in wet conditions when he lost control of his car and it collided with the boundary wall of William Reilly's house. Pathologist Anne Marie Quinn said he suffered skull fractures and hemorrhages, arising from the crash. She said there was no evidence he suffered a medical event before the crash. There was also no evidence of alcohol involvement.
William Reilly, who came upon the scene, described the location where the collision happened as a 'bad bend', with 36 collisions outside his property over the years. He said there's a camber on the bend and some drivers either smack into his wall or go into a ditch. He said there are no warning signs of what he called the 'bad bend'. Forensic collision investigator, Garda John Naughton, said he was approached by Mr Reilly in relation to the number of crashes that had occurred there.
Garda Naughton said, on examination, he found there were three fatal collisions there since 2019. He said, in the 20 years before the crash, there were six serious-injury collisions there, along with 13 minor-injury collisions, and 48 material-damage crashes. He said Mr Mullins' car was fully roadworthy and he doesn't believe he was speeding. He said the speed limit at the time was 100 kilometres an hour. He said anybody going faster than 95 km/h would probably have gone into the ditch. He said he doesn't believe Mr Mullins was going any faster than 95km/h.
He was asked by barrister Conor E Byrne, for the deceased's family, if it was normal to have so many collisions at a location.
Garda Naughton said he wouldn't normally expect to see so many, but they have reduced considerably since August 2023 - with only three crashes since then. The inquest heard works had been carried out there since then. Coroner Brian O'Connor adjourned the inquest - he said he would allow three weeks for written legal submissions and would deliver his verdict electronically two weeks later.
