Man (84) died in crash after driving up motorway in wrong direction

An 84-year-old farmer, who had previously been treated for mild memory loss, died when he collided with a van after driving for some 3km on the wrong side of the Cork to Dublin motorway, an inquest has heard.

Tom Joe O’Riordan from Castlelyons in Co Cork entered the M8 southbound lane near Rathcormac and drove up to the Toll Plaza at Watergrasshill before deciding to do a U-turn and drive against the traffic, resulting in a collision on December 30th, 2016.

Toll plaza manager Seán O’Donnell told the inquest at the North Cork Coroner’s Court that Mr O’Riordan came within 50m of the toll barrier at around 11.30am. He then indicated right and in a controlled fashion, completed a U-turn and drove back up the southbound carriageway.

Mr O'Donnell said he called Fermoy Garda station to alert them and Sgt Edward Geary, who investigated the fatal collision, said a number of similar phone calls were received about a car driving in the wrong direction.

Conor McCarthy, a van driver who was taking Evening Echo newspapers from Dublin to Cork, said he was overtaking an oil tanker when he saw Mr O'Riordan's Isuzu Trooper 4x4 approaching.

“I was about level with the rear wheels of the oil tanker when I saw a jeep coming towards me. I didn’t have time to react and the jeep crashed into me,” said Mr McCarthy, who suffered a broken leg, dislocated hip and fractured pelvis in the crash.

Faint pulse

Dr Margaret McLoughlin, who was travelling in the northbound carriageway, told the inquest she saw the collision and attended to Mr O’Riordan, who had suffered serious injuries. He had a faint pulse but it soon faded and she pronounced him dead at 11.35am.

PSV Inspector Garda Kevin Connolly told the inquest the drivers’ side of both the 4x4 and van collided before glancing off each other and the cause of the collision was Mr O’Riordan driving on the wrong carriageway.

Garda Raymond Sweeney, a forensic crash investigator, said a slight right hand bend in the road would have made it difficult for Mr McCarthy to tell that Mr O’Riordan was driving on the wrong carriageway. It was only when he could see the 4x4 straight on that he would have known it was coming along his carriageway.

In a statement, consultant neurologist Dr Peter Kenirons said that Mr O’Riordan came to him in 2011 complaining of slight memory loss. He prescribed Aricept to deal with mild cognitive impairment but the deceased failed to keep an appointment some six months later.

Mr O'Riordan's GP, Dr Joe Keane, said in a statement that his former patient had been on Aricept to deal with early dementia but his mental health had not deteriorated after he went on the medication.

Pathology

Consultant neuropathologist Dr Niamh Bermingham found evidence at postmortem of an Alzheimer type pathology but this did not mean Mr O’Riordan was suffering from the disease as it would require a clinical assessment of him while still alive to confirm such a diagnosis.

Mr O’Riordan’s widow, Moira and his son, Martin told the inquest the deceased was his usual self and did not seem confused on the day of the crash. His other son, William said his father would not have been used to driving on the M8 as he always travelled by local roads between their farms and home.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said Mr O'Riordan died from traumatic brain injury with haemorrhage and diffuse axonal injury associated with multiple fractures of long bones, ribs and pelvis. She said he would not have suffered as he would have become unconscious immediately.

The jury returned a narrative verdict that Mr O’Riordan died as a result of a road traffic collision while driving against the oncoming traffic at Curraghprevin, Rathcormac. Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy noted their verdict and extended his sympathy to the O’Riordan family.