Coroner calls for law on truck mirrors

A coroner has repeated her plea to government agencies to make it compulsory for all heavy goods vehicles to have specified safety mirrors fitted so as to prevent accidents with cyclists and pedestrians.

Since 1996, 21 people have died as a direct result of vehicles not having cyclops C5 and C6 mirrors attached to trucks to address a “blind spot phenomenon” whereby the driver cannot see inside a short distance in front vehicles.

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, at exactly the same time as an articulated truck moved from a stationary position.