‘There was nothing I could have done to avoid this collision’

A motorist has told a Cork inquest that there was nothing she could do to avoid a collision when a young motorcyclist was fatally injured after he crashed into the back of her car and was thrown onto the opposite dual carriageway.

Catherine Foley, who is in her 60s, said that she had checked in her mirror as she moved from the slip road from the Kinsale Road roundabout into the middle lane of the N40 on March 11th, 2014.

She said she saw no sign of any motorcyclist as she moved into the fast lane as she drove eastward. “Suddenly and without warning, I heard a loud bang and the rear window was shattered.

“There was nothing I could have done to avoid this collision,” Ms Foley told the inquest at Cork Coroner’s Court into the death of Cork Institute of Technology student Joe Holten (27).

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‘Unmerciful bang’

“It was just an unmerciful bang and suddenly there was glass flying through the air all around me – I looked the centre mirror and I could see a motorbike going up in the air behind me,” said Ms Foley.

The inquest went ahead despite objections by Mr Holten’s family, whose solicitor, Simon Kelly, said they believed that the Garda investigation into the crash had been “deeply flawed” and that it should be “properly investigated”.

However, Sgt Fergus Twomey said the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that no prosecution should take place, and decided in the same way after she was asked to review the file.

Meanwhile, a Garda assistant commissioner had reviewed the investigation and found it had been properly carried out, Sgt Twomey told the Coroner’s Court.

Black sports car

Three witnesses said they believed that Mr Holten had been racing against a black sports car. Two more witnesses said the two had passed speeds of over 160km/h.

Witness Eamon Lynch said the black sports car had been less than a car’s length behind the motorbike as they weaved in and out of slower-moving traffic on the 100km/h dual carriageway.

Witness James Steele said he believed Mr Holten’s motorbike was still accelerating at 180km/h when it passed him, while witness Andrew Murphy said the driving of both the sports car and the motorbike had been “ridiculous”.

All four witnesses said they believed Ms Foley was driving fully in the fast lane at the time and all said she had crossed over from the slow left hand lane into the fast lane safely, one lane at a time, indicating each time.

Witness Denis Murphy, who had been behind Ms Foley, said that there was nothing she could have done. “If the bike was going slower, he would have been able to stop,” he said.

The inquest continues on Friday.