A Garda car that careered out of control before hitting a pensioner at a bus shelter was in good mechanical condition, a Garda insisted in court today.
Garda Adrian Tucker, a public service vehicle inspector, found the patrol car was in roadworthy condition. The car smashed into a bus shelter where Mary Seavers (74) was standing on May 22nd, 2005.
"The vehicle was in generally good mechanical condition with no defects," he told the Dublin City Coroner's Court today, after inspecting the vehicle following the crash.
However, Doreen Shivnen, the Seavers family's barrister, said two independent engineers' reports had raised queries over the condition of the tyre tread depth of the vehicle.
Lionel Young, a motor technician with Winfield Motors, Maxwell Road, Dublin, who serviced the Ford Mondeo four weeks earlier on April 20th, 2005, said he had assessed the tyres and found they were in roadworthy condition.
But Ms Shivnen said independent engineers who examined the car after the accident said the tread wear indicators on the right rear tyre were clearly exposed and visible.
"I would have reported if it was worn," Mr Young said. The car had travelled over 4,000 miles in the four weeks between its service and the accident. Mr Young said this could have had an impact on the tyres.
The inquest heard Gda Niamh Seberry, who was driving the patrol car, and Gda Lisa Healy were visibly upset and distressed following the crash at Clonskeagh Road, south Dublin.
After he arrived on the scene of the crash, Gda Wayne Hogan said he saw an elderly woman on the ground attended to by around five people. He said several members of the public were also trying to comfort the two gardaí.
Mrs Seavers, of Farmhill Park, Goatstown, Dublin, died three weeks after the crash on June 15th, 2005, in Beaumont Hospital.