Motorcyclist who died following M50 crash had been drinking homemade wine, inquest hears

A motorcyclist who died after an accident on the M50 had been been drinking homemade wine before the crash, an inquest heard. 

Krzysztof Pysniak, from Cruise Park Drive, Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15 collided with the crash barrier just beyond the Blanchardstown exit north bound on the M50.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that the man made his own wine and brought it with him to a friend’s house arriving at 5.30pm on July 19 2015.

The pair drank the bottle of wine followed by one shot of whiskey over a period of one and a half hours. Robert Wozniak said the pair had been friends for 20 years.

“He brought a one litre bottle of homemade wine and we shared it. After that we had one shot of whiskey each and then he stopped drinking alcohol and started drinking water to be okay to drive,” Mr Wozniak said.

Mr Pysniak ‘did not seem drunk’ when he left to return home, according to his friend.

Dr Rory Kelly was driving north bound on the M50 around 9.50pm when a motorbike passed him at speed. “I’d never seen a motorbike travel so fast,” Dr Kelly said.

The motorbike was weaving in and out of traffic and then veered from the outside lane to the inside lane, Dr Kelly said. The motorcycle impacted with the barrier just beyond the Blanchardstown exit, the court heard.

The bike went on to its side and impacted the barrier again before sliding almost 90 metres on its side. Gardai said the speed the motorbike was travelling after the second impact was 87kmph. “This impact was quite extensive, it would have taken out much of the energy of the momentum,”Garda Damien Farrell said.

The speed prior to the impact was estimated to be significantly higher.

Dr Kelly rushed to help the motorcyclist but his helmet had come off in the impact. He suffered a severe head injury and death was instantaneous, the court heard.

A post-mortem report gave the cause of death as head injury following a road traffic collision. The man was four times over the legal driving limit with a blood alcohol level of 208 milligrams per cent. “It is consistent with the half litre of wine and shot of whiskey consumed as described,” Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said.

The accident was the result of excessive speed which lead to loss of control of the motorbike, Sgt Joseph McLaughlin of Blanchardstown Garda Station told the court.

The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.