Driver on phone died at scene after smashing into tree, inquest hears

A DRIVER using a mobile phone smashed into a tree and died at the scene, an inquest heard yesterday.

There was no emergency braking or steering prior to the impact, Dublin County Coroners Court was told.

The dangers of driving while using a mobile phone was highlighted at the inquest into the death of Paul Gerard Monks, aged 33, from Huntstown House, Cloghran, Co Dublin.

He had been speaking for 44 seconds on the phone to his brother Dwane when his Mitsubishi Pajero careered off the road into a ditch on Lyons Road, Newcastle, Co Dublin in July last.

Dwayne Monks told the inquest he was having a brief chat with Paul when he heard him say: “Oh Jesus, Dwayne”.

“I knew something was wrong. I could hear the fear in his voice.”

Mr Monks, who died of multiple injuries, was not using a hands-free kit.

He was also not wearing a seatbelt and the driver’s airbag did not deploy.

The inquest heard the scenes of collision investigator Garda Tony Kelly found a “significant contributory factor was driver error probably caused by driver inattention or distraction”.

Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty said: “We’ve heard evidence Paul Monks was using a mobile phone at the time of the accident.

“This is a tragic death of a young man. It highlights the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving,” he said.

He further warned about the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt.

A jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

The vehicle was in good road-worthy condition prior to the incident.

A former nurse, Margaret Harris came upon the accident shortly after 11am on July 19. She went to Mr Monks’s assistance, but found no signs of life.

A postmortem found he died of multiple trauma related injuries due to a road traffic collision.

The coroner told his parents and other family members, at the inquest, it was likely Paul was rendered unconscious immediately.