Inquest told girl died after crashing bike

A GIRL died from serious head injuries after she lost control of a bicycle on a hill and hit a stone wall, an inquest into her death heard yesterday.

Mary Connors (10), from Carbury, Co Kildare, was staying with relatives when the incident occurred at the Old Mallow Road, Cork, on September 2nd, 2007. She was taken to Cork University Hospital, where she died 11 days later.

The inquest heard that the girl was riding an 18-speed boy's mountain bike, but lost control of it on a steep incline and hit a wall after being thrown over the handlebars.

"She seemed to be attempting very hard to turn right, the bicycle was shaking. She was going very fast," witness Martin Dunne said. The bicycle hit the kerb and the girl's head struck the wall with force. Mr Dunne, his wife and the driver of another car went to help and called the emergency services.

Mr Dunne said that the girl had not been wearing a safety helmet.

The inquest heard that the bicycle was found to be roadworthy.

Forensic collision investigator Garda Mark O'Connor said that the road surface was dry and visibility was good. There was no evidence that the girl had applied the brakes and she could have been travelling at a speed of up to 77km/h, he explained.

"She would have found it very difficult to stop at that speed with ordinary pedal-bike brakes, particularly if she was not familiar with the bike. Children have less fear than adults, so she probably panicked coming to the bridge where an adult would have known to start braking gradually."

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that the cause of death was head injuries consistent with a fall from a bicycle.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.