Gardaí seek to question driver after motorcyclist dies in road collision

Gardaí are searching for the driver of a black BMW coupé whom they wish to question as part of their inquiries into the death of a young motorcyclist yesterday.

The motorcyclist, aged 27, from Glanmire, Co Cork, was travelling eastbound on the South Ring Road when his vehicle struck the central barrier on the Kinsale Rd flyover at about 11.15am. He was flung from his motorcycle over the central barrier and onto the opposite carriageway.

Emergency services rushed to the scene, but the man was pronounced dead a short time later. His body was removed to Cork University Hospital where an autopsy was due to be carried out.

Gardaí were forced to close lanes on both the eastbound and westbound carriageways to facilitate a forensic crash scene investigation.

The man was the first person to be killed on roads in Cork this year.

His death brings to 33 the number of people who have died on the nation’s roads so far in 2014 — seven less than the comparable period in 2013.

A Garda spokesman said they are particularly anxious to speak to the occupants of a black BMW coupé which was in the area at the time.

“We would like the driver and the occupants of this vehicle to come forward and tell us what they saw,” said the Garda spokesman.

Gardaí have examined CCTV footage along the South Ring Rd and have established that this car did not travel through the Jack Lynch Tunnel in the minutes after the accident.

The driver of the car either took one of the two exits to Douglas, the exit to Carrigaline, or left the motorway via the Mahon sliproad.

The Garda spokesman appealed to the occupants of this car, and to anybody who witnessed the road accident to contact gardaí in Togher on 021 4947120, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.