A jury on Wednesday recommended increased signage at tourist hot-spots warning holidaymakers to drive on the correct side of the road.
The jury at Clare Coroner’s Court in Ennis made the recommendation after hearing the details of a horrific crash that claimed two lives near the Cliffs of Moher last summer.
The collision of two motorbikes just after 6.30pm near the beauty spot on June 5th resulted in an explosion on the main Lisdoonvarna to Ennistymon Road in north Clare, setting the two motorcyclists on fire.
That is according to the eyewitness testimony of Alberto Agostini, who told of his desperate attempts to tell his friend, Richardo "Ricky" Godoy (53), that he was driving on the wrong side of the road before the crash.
The impact claimed Mr Godoy's life and that of an oncoming motorcyclist, German national, Ferdinand Waidel (55). Mr Waidel had been living in Clare for about 14 years and was returning home from a shopping trip in Ennistymon.
TV celebrity
At the inquest on Wednesday, a deposition by Mr Agostini recounted how Mr Godoy - a celebrity in his native Chile through hosting the TV motorcycle show, Mototematicos - turned right and stayed on the right side of the road.
He said: “Ricky accelerated. He had gone too far for me to warn him. I beeped my horn and Antonio beeped at him, but he couldn’t hear us.
He said: “I was praying that nothing was going to come the other direction and all of a sudden I saw a bike coming. The impact happened on the right hand side of the road, Ricky would have been on the incorrect side unfortunately.
‘Immediate explosion’
He added: “When the accident happened, there was an immediate explosion, Rocky and the other person were on fire.”
He said that Mr Godoy’s bike, along with the pillion passenger, Mr Godoy’s wife Pillar, were thrown into the bushes, which were set on fire.
Mr Agostini said Mr Godoy and the other motorcyclist were badly burned. He added: “Ricky said “take my helmet off’ and and then he said ‘I’m dying’.
“I think the other driver died immediately, there didn’t seem to be any sign of life.”
Pillar Godoy recovered from the injuries she sustained in the crash.
No fire extinguishers
Mr Agostini said that “no car had a fire extinguisher. In Chile, it is compulsory to have a fire extinguisher. If we had five or six, we could have stopped the fire.”
Mr Agostini said the impact happened due to an error and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr Godoy was one of a group of motorcyclists who were returning to Kinnity Castle in Co Offaly from the Cliffs of Moher that day.
Garda Michael Haugh agreed with the solicitor representing Mr Waidel, Patrick Moylan, that there are few if any signs in north Clare advising drivers to drive on the left hand side of the road.
Mr Moylan said: “Perhaps this accident might have been avoided if there were signs in north Clare advising tourists to drive on the left.”
In reply, Garda Haugh said: “Yes, that’s correct.”
In reply to a question from coroner Isobel O’Dea, Garda Haugh said such signs “are very few and far between” in north Clare.
Returning a verdict of accidental death in both deaths, the jury made a recommendation to increase signage in tourist locations warning motorists to drive on the correct side of the road.
