A motorcyclist died after he suffered “terrible injuries” on a busy regional road in Kerry after colliding with a car, a court has heard.
The details were given at the trial of a 34-year-old woman charged with careless driving causing death while turning into her own driveway.
Mark Shanahan (29) was pronounced dead at the scene on the R556 Abbeydorney to Tralee Road. His body had been taken from the ditch and a white sheet placed over it and people knelt in prayer.
The 1000cc Yamaha motorcycle he borrowed from his friend and first cousin earlier that Sunday afternoon had been modified so its headlight would be on when travelling, the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee was told.
Shortly before the collision, off-duty detective Ernie Henderson had seen a motorcyclist on a Yamaha sports bicycle wearing a white helmet and dark clothing.
The noise and speed of the bike had “startled and frightened” him. Det Henderson also said the motorcyclist was in the centre of his own carriageway and at no time did he cross on to his side.
“I am an experienced motorcyclist and it was my opinion the rider had full control of his bike and negotiated the bend perfectly,” Det Henderson told prosecutor Tom Rice.
Careless
The driver of a year-old Kia Rio car, Kelly Ann Roantree (34) of Clounametig, Abbeydorney, denies the charge of careless driving causing the death of father-of-one Mr Shanahan, of Lixnaw and also of Ballymullen, Tralee, sometime after 6 pm on July 14th, 2013 at Clounametig, Abbeydorney.
Ms Roantree had been returning from a food shop in Tralee, checked the road in front of her before moving slowly to get to her driveway and “he wasn’t there,” she said in a statement to gardaí.
The first she knew was when she felt a bang.
The trial has also heard that the biker community in north Kerry is “a very close community” and a lot of motorcyclists live in the Lixnaw, Abbeydorney, Causeway and Ballyduff area.
Forensic collision investigator Garda James O’Brien said the Black Kia Rio travelling towards Abbeydorney had crossing diagonally from its correct to incorrect lane to access a private dwelling and had crossed into the path of a motorcycle .
Applied brakes
The motorcyclist had applied the brakes 25 metres from the area of impact.
Asked by Tom Rice, prosecuting counsel, if it was possible the motorbike could have been concealed in a dip further along in the road, Garda O’Brien said the brow of the hill following the dip was 290 metres away. Mr Shanahan’s motor bike would have to be travelling at 326 miles an hour to be out of view .
“There’s no motorcycle made to go that fast,” Garda O’Brien said.
Defence counsel John O’Sullivan put it to Garda O’Brien that Ms Roantree was completing her manoeuvre when the motorcycle came “at a ferocious speed”.
Garda O’Brien replied: “I think she crossed the road directly into the path of an approaching vehicle.”
This was the second day of the trial presided over by Judge Thomas E O’Donnell, which continues.