AN INQUEST jury yesterday called on Government agencies to make it compulsory for all heavy goods vehicles regardless of age to be fitted with dedicated safety mirrors to prevent fatalities among cyclists and pedestrians.
Thousands of heavy goods vehicles on Irish roads were not obliged to have so-called cyclops mirrors – extra mirrors fitted to the front and left hand side of their vehicles to address blind spots, the inquest heard. The inquest into the death of James Kelliher (71), of Cahill’s Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, heard how the deceased had stepped from the left hand footpath at the junction of Chapel Street and Strand Road in Tralee town centre.
Evidence was given that the driver of the 1994 Scania 143 truck with 45ft trailer, Brendan O’Brien of Ballyduff, Co Kerry, an experienced driver with a clean licence for almost 30 years, could not have seen that Mr Kelliher had entered what is known as the 4ft blind spot directly in front of the truck, the inquest heard. A Garda expert agreed with Stephen O’Halloran, counsel for the next of kin of the deceased, that 21 people had died since 1996 as a direct result of vehicles not having cyclops C5 and C6 mirrors fitted to address the blind spots of such large vehicles.
Garda Jim O’Brien, public service vehicles inspector, said that of 30,000 heavy goods vehicles on Irish roads, only 8,000, or those registered since 2006, were obliged to have the mirrors.
Since November 2011, older vehicles had been in the process of being fitted, but only on a phased basis, and it could be years before 1994 lorries were obliged to have the safety mirrors, he said.
Coroner Helen Lucey, extending her sympathy to the family of the deceased and the driver, said this was her second time issuing a recommendation.
“I feel very strongly about this,” Ms Lucey said, adding that, hopefully, Government departments would see fit to bring forward the necessary legislation to ensure use of the mirrors.
Witnesses spoke of the horrific scene that morning. The lorry edged out slowly and it tipped off the man’s shoulder.
Mr O’Brien said he was stopped in traffic and looked out for pedestrians but saw no one, and pulled the vehicle out slowly. He remembered hearing a thud and stopped immediately.
When he got out he saw the body of a man underneath the trailer.
He went into shock and had to be taken to Kerry General Hospital, the inquest heard.