A truck driver who ran over and fatally injured a cyclist on a Dublin roundabout on a stormy evening last year returned to Co Laois without realising what had happened, an inquest has heard.
David Rynne (39), of Griffeen Glen Green, Lucan, Co Dublin, was making his way home from work in Citywest when the incident occurred at about 5.30pm on January 27th, 2014.
He sustained catastrophic crush injuries in the collision which happened at the Citywest roundabout amid hazardous road conditions and heavy rainfall.
Mr Rynne was positioned on the passenger side of an 11m long two-axle rigid truck which was taking the first exit at the roundabout onto the M7 motorway.
Truck driver George Cooper, an employee of Laois Hire Service, drove back to the truck depot in Portlaoise, unaware the incident had happened.
“I never saw a cyclist at all,” Mr Cooper said “This came as a great shock.”
Motorist Caroline Fleming is the only witness who recalled seeing Mr Rynne on his bicycle.
“I remember thinking it was a terrible night for anyone to be out walking or cycling, it was really dark and really wet,” she said. “I noticed him in my passenger mirror when he passed me. I didn’t see him before that. The next time I saw him he was on the ground.”
Mr Rynne was surrounded by members of the public who were conducting CPR when Garda Stephen Finn arrived at the scene. There were no direct witnesses to the accident.
Dublin Fire Brigade paramedic Brian Lamon said Mr Rynne was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when the ambulance arrived. He was wearing a helmet and was lit up with front and rear lights along with a light on his backpack.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy found a tyre mark on Mr Rynne’s thigh and multiple injuries to his trunk, pelvis and upper legs. The cause of death was crush injuries to the trunk when, as a cyclist, Mr Rynne was run over by a truck identified as the one driven by Mr Cooper.
An investigation of the truck revealed damage to the cab step well on the passenger side, recent contact marks on the front passenger tyre and a recent “rub mark” on a bar running underneath the truck.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said any cyclist or pedestrian on the inside of a commercial vehicle turning left was in a very dangerous place.
“Unfortunately I cannot tell you precisely what happened save that the cyclist came into contact with the truck and was run over,” the coroner said.
The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and recommended increased night lighting at the Citywest roundabout and asked for a review of the legal minimum requirement for lighting and reflective wear for cyclists.