Thunder may have startled a horse which jumped a fence on to the road directly in the path of a car, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday. In the subsequent collision, a man died from head injuries.
Mr Oliver Maye (53), Roches town, Ballymitty, New Ross, Co Wexford, died at Beaumont Hospital on 10th April, 1998, three days after the collision at Hayes town on the Wexford-Duncannon road. Mr Richard Maye said he was driving from work with his father as a front-seat passenger.
He had come out of a gradual bend and was on a straight stretch of road when out of the blue the horse appeared in front of him. He could not avoid the collision.
Garda John Sheehy, Wexford, said it was a thundery afternoon and the horse jumped over the lowest part of the roadside hedge into the path of the car.
After the initial impact it lan ded on the roof of the car and crushed it. The lowest part of the hedge at the scene was about 4 ft high and in normal circumstances should have been sufficient to contain any animal. He believed the horse, which was two or three years old, was startled by a clap of thunder. A second horse remained in the field.
A post-mortem examination showed that Mr Maye's death was due to severe head injuries and the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.