Family plea to motorists not to drink and drive

LOUISE ROSEINGRAVE

THE FAMILY of a 60-year-old taxi driver killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, who also died in the crash, have issued a plea to motorists not to drink and drive.

They were speaking following an inquest at Cork City Coroner’s Court into the deaths of Michael Maguire, Patrickswell in Co Limerick, and Andreuis Simonavicius (36), Kilmihil, Kilmallock, Co Limerick.

The two men were killed in a collision at Pikes Cross, between Ballyhea and Charleville on the N20 Cork to Limerick road, on March 16th last, shortly after midnight.

“I would appeal to anyone considering having a few drinks before getting in the car to think again, it is a recipe for disaster,” said Mr Maguire’s son, John.

Mr Maguire’s wife Deborah, who was travelling in the passenger seat of the Ford Mondeo taxi when the collision occurred, described how her husband was unresponsive to her following the impact.

He died later in hospital.

The inquest was told that the Nissan Primera driven by Mr Simonavicius, a Lithuanian national who had been living and working in Ireland for more than four years, had crossed the road and was travelling on the wrong side of the road when the impact occurred.

Mr Simonavicius was pronounced dead at the scene, while his front seat passenger and friend visiting from Lithuania was badly injured.

He survived and described how the two men had been drinking spirits before getting into the car and had a bottle of liquor with them in the vehicle.

A postmortem examination carried out by Dr Margaret Bolster revealed that Mr Simonavicius had a blood alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death in Mr Maguire’s case and death by misadventure in the case of Mr Simonavicius.

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