Coroner issues road tolls warning

A coroner has issued a road toll safety warning after an inquest into an horrific accident which claimed the life of a woman near a busy motorway toll plaza.

Cork City Coroner Myra Cullinane heard yesterday how Polish national Magdalena Kossowska was killed on Apr 27, 2012, when the car in which she was a passenger was crushed by a truck near the Watergrasshill toll plaza on the M8 near Cork City after the driver of the car pulled over to find change for the toll just after 6am.

Despite being parked on the hard shoulder with the hazards lights on, the car was struck from behind by the 28,000kg five-axle Scania articulated truck travelling in the same direction.

The Renault Megane car was crushed beyond recognition and blown across the road.

Ms Kossowska, from Kielpi, Poland, was a backseat passenger and suffered devastating blunt force trauma to her head and chest.

She was rushed to Cork University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10.37am.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

While gardaí said it is best practice for motorists to arrange their toll fees before setting out on their journey, Dr Cullinane said: “Nobody’s perfect.”

The facts of this case highlight the dangers for motorists approaching toll plazas, she said.

“The safety message should be for motorists to proceed to the toll booths and sort the change or fee there, rather than expose yourself to such danger,” said Dr Cullinane.

Garda Gary Morris, who was the first garda on the scene, said the car had been subjected to a “ferocious” impact.

He said the truck driver, Marcin Paluch, also a Polish national, with an address at the time in Midleton, Co Cork, was in a state of shock.

Mr Paluch, who passed a roadside breath test, said: “I just hit — I don’t know what happened.”

The truck’s digital tachograph showed the vehicle, which was restricted to 90km/h, was travelling at 91km/h just before the crash.

Mr Paluch was subsequently charged with a single count of dangerous driving, causing death.

He was convicted at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Feb 22 and received a three-year suspended sentence, and was disqualified from driving for six years. He has since left the country.

Ms Kossowska had spent a week in Portlaoise visiting school friends and was being driven to Cork Airport on Apr 27 to catch a flight home when the accident occurred. She was among four people in the car.

The driver of the car, Alicia Klodkiewicz, said that, as they approached the toll plaza, she pulled the car over and parked fully in the hard shoulder to find change.

Andrej Kiezmanek, who was a frontseat passenger, said: “The next thing I remember was a loud noise. The car was hit from behind. The car was spun across the road.”

He got out of the car and saw Ms Klodkiewicz slumped unconscious across the passenger seat. Ms Kossowska had been bent over, with her head trapped between the two front seats. She was unconscious and unresponsive. The third passenger was barely conscious but not seriously injured.

Gardaí said the car should not have been parked on the hard shoulder of a motorway and that the truck should not have been driving on the hard shoulder.