‘A number of factors’ behind fatal crash

A PSV (Public Service Vehicles) inspector who has served 26 years in the gardaí told an inquest there were a number of factors which could have led to the deaths of two young male passengers when the car they were travelling in spun out of control and crashed.

The Honda Civic vehicle, driven by Theresa Dingivan, who was aged 19 at the time, crashed at Strawhall, on the outskirts of Fermoy, Co Cork, shortly before 9pm on August 5, 2007.

Back-seat passengers Michael Murphy, aged 22, and James Sexton, aged 19, died after being thrown from the vehicle.

PSV inspector Garda Micheál O’Donovan said “the combined weight of the vehicle (five people in it), the inexperience of the driver and the speed would be very relevant to this particular accident”.

Garda O’Donovan said the 13-year-old car, which had over 145,000 miles (233,000km) on the clock, was in good working order.

Ms Dingivan was found not guilty of dangerous driving causing death at a court case last November.

Yesterday, Patrick O’Riordan, the solicitor acting for the family of the two dead men, asked gardaí and witnesses what speed they thought the car was travelling at when it hit two piers.

Seconds before she lost control of the car, Ms Dingivan had overtaken a Toyota Corolla driven by Richard Cotter.

He said he was travelling at around 40mph (60kmph) when the Honda overtook him on a motorway underpass. The speed limit on the road was 80kmh.

Garda Tom Dunlea, who examined the crash site, said that the Honda could have been travelling between 96-118km per hour when the accident occurred.

He said he was estimating this from a tyre mark left on the road. However, he added that he couldn’t find a second tyre mark which would have given him an exact reading. “I can’t be definitive as there was no second mark,” he told coroner Dr Michael Kennedy.

Garda Dunlea added the impact was extremely violent and he estimated after hitting the piers the car was still moving at 73-79kmph.

Ms Dingivan had been socialising in Castlelyons earlier in the evening and had been drinking 7-Up.

Tests showed she hadn’t consumed any alcohol or illegal substances.

She gave the two men a lift into Fermoy along with her sister, Bridget, and bricklayer Killian Smith, who held a full licence.

Ms Dingivan admitted that on previous occasions she had driven without being accompanied by somebody with a full licence.

She maintained she was travelling at about 50mph when she overtook the Toyota and described how she then lost control of her car.

Her sister, Bridget, broke down on a number of occasions during her testimony, especially when she described cradling a dying James Sexton in her arms.

The jury recommended that gardaí vigorously enforce the law to stop first-time provisional licence holders from driving unaccompanied by a fully-qualified person.