Motorist (92) killed in crash was reversing out of her home
Car hit wall, inquest hears
An elderly motorist suffered fatal injuries when she crashed into a wall while reversing her car out of her home last year, an inquest has heard.
Mary Kelly (92), of Meath Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, was pronounced dead at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin on July 18, 2023, a few hours after being involved in the crash outside her home.
The deceased’s daughter, Marie Kelly, became tearful as she gave evidence at Dublin District Coroner’s Court yesterday about the circumstances of her mother’s death.
Ms Kelly said she had received a call from her son, Con, at about 5pm to tell her that his grandmother had been involved in a car accident and was not breathing.
She described going to the scene of the accident and finding her mother on the footpath being attended to by paramedics. In reply to questions from the coroner, Clare Keane, she said her mother had no significant medical issues before the fatal incident despite her age.
Ms Kelly said her mother was leaving her house to drop her grandson home when the crash happened. Weather conditions were fine on the day of the incident, the inquest heard.
“I have absolutely no idea what happened,” Ms Kelly said.
However, she disputed that it was a minor crash, as suggested by one medic who had attended the scene. Ms Kelly said there was damage to the chassis of the vehicle, while its two rear doors could not be opened and the stone wall that had been struck was “cracked”.
She said it was her mother’s practice to reverse her car out of her home and it was something she had done “a million times” without incident.
Ms Kelly said her mother had known after hitting the wall that she was going to die. She described how her mother had made a slight gurgling noise before telling her: “I’m gone.”
She told the coroner that her mother, who had remained very active, used her car most days to go shopping.
“It was her lifeline for going out,” Ms Kelly said. “She was like a Duracell bunny – she was always going.”
Ms Kelly said her mother did not require glasses for driving and got the regular checks needed to renew her licence.
Her mother, who was originally from Inagh, Co Clare, was formerly a matron in a nursing home in Bray.
Evidence was also provided by hospital staff that Mary Kelly was resuscitated a number of times after suffering a cardiac arrest but died at 9.40pm.
In a written statement, a consultant in emergency medicine who attended the scene, David Menzies, said it appeared the crash caused the victim’s injuries, rather than Ms Kelly experiencing some medical event which triggered the crash.
The coroner said the results of a post-mortem exam confirmed that view. Dr Keane said the victim had sustained blunt-force injuries to her face, chest and shoulders which were consistent with her hitting the steering wheel of her vehicle.
She recorded the cause of death as multiple traumatic injuries as a result of a road traffic collision.
Returning a verdict of accidental death, Dr Keane offered her condolences to the victim’s relatives, saying it was “a very cruel way to lose somebody”.