Coroner warns over DIY motor care after car collapses on man

A CORONER has warned against people carrying out repairs under their cars using only jacks to support the vehicle following the death of a father of two.

Gerard Horgan (45) was killed when his car fell on him while he was preparing it for an NCT test.

Coroner for south Cork Frank O’Connell said the death of the man was the second such fatality that he had encountered in the space of 12 months.

“People should not fall into the trap of putting cars up on jacks to carry out repairs without any fixed solid support to hold up the vehicle because that is what it is, a trap – it’s a deadly dangerous practice,” warned Mr O’Connell.

He heard that Mr Horgan, Monfield, Rochestown, had been working part-time as a taxi driver.

On October 13th last year, he brought the car to the family’s farmyard near his home to carry out some repair work in preparation for an NCT test the next day.

Mr Horgan’s widow Colette told gardaí how she last saw her husband at about 5.30pm on the day in question when he borrowed the jack from her car to use along with his own jack to lift up his Toyota Avensis and carry out repair work.

She received a phone call from her sister-in-law Kay Hanley at about 6.05pm to tell her there had been an accident.

She went to the farmyard where she found her husband had been trapped beneath the car after it had collapsed on top him.

“I saw Gerard’s car had fallen down on top of him and he was pinned underneath. I got a huge fright and knew immediately that it was serious. I called to him but there was no response – I knew he was gone but I didn’t want to believe it.”

Garda Bernadette O’Connor said she responded to an emergency call and found Mr Horgan trapped under the vehicle with only his lower legs visible. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

She said that both the rear wheels had been taken off the vehicle. She found a scissors jack about a foot away from one of the wheels while another jack was found under the car.

Garda O’Connor believed the jacks were unable to support the weight of the car and it collapsed on him.

The ground was quite uneven and sloping which may have contributed to the accident, she added.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said Mr Horgan died from traumatic asphyxia. The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.