Plea over blind spots on trucks

Sensors and front-facing mirrors should be made mandatory on trucks to eliminate blind spots for drivers after the tragic death of a pensioner, a jury recommended today.

The Dublin City Coroner’s Court heard many pedestrians have died after stepping into the driver’s blind spot in front of high-sided trucks stopped at traffic lights.

The jury at the inquest into the death of Marie Rowse, 69, from Iveagh House Flats in Dublin 8, called for the reinstatement of a public awareness campaign to alert pedestrians and cyclists to the dangers.

The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, was also requested to write to the Environment Department in relation to front facing mirrors and sensors being made mandatory on all high-sided vehicles on the roads.

Ms Rowse’s sister, Rose Arnold and her nephew Paul Arnold, heard she died from multiple injuries on December 15 last year in St James’s Hospital after being struck hours earlier while crossing High Street at Dublin’s Christchurch.

Her nephew, Mr Arnold, said: “It just seems a bit crazy in this day and age that there is something on the road that has a blind spot.”

Her sister, Mrs Arnold, said: “It was such an accident. I can’t explain the way I feel.”

She added: “I must say I felt so sorry for the driver.”

Albert Slye, who was working for McGuire Haulage from Co Kilkenny, said he never saw Ms Rowse in front of his truck.

“The lights went green, so I checked the mirrors and took off. I felt a bump under the wheel on the passenger side,” he said.

Ms Rowse was dragged for a short distance before the driver came to a stop.

The inquest heard there was graphic footage from a CCTV camera, which showed Ms Rowse leaving a credit union at Christchurch. She was seen crossing the road between stationary vehicles before being struck by the red Volvo truck when the lights turned green at around 11.40am.

Garda Edward Davin, a forensic collision investigator, said: “She walked into an area at the nearside and front of the lorry where the driver had no vision.”

He said: “If eye contact cannot be made with the driver of the goods vehicle it is not safe to assume it will remain stationary.”

Dr Farrell said deaths involving pedestrians or cyclists moving into the blind spots of stationary trucks occur with some frequency.

“We have been concerned by this particular matter, this blind spot, at a considerable number of inquests over the last few years,” he said.

But he said front-facing mirrors or sensors to eliminate the blind spots for high-sided goods vehicles were not mandatory by law.

Dr Farrell said new legislation was being brought in through an EU directive in relation to mirrors to eliminate the blind spot for truck drivers, but may only apply to new vehicles.

As the jury passed a verdict of accidental death, the coroner urged pedestrians to give trucks and other high-sided vehicles a wide berth while crossing roads.