Two young brothers were killed instantly when their car veered across the road into the path of an oncoming car just after they lost control rounding a sharp bend, an inquest heard yesterday.
The jury of five men and one woman returned verdicts of accidental death in the case of Paul (21) and David (18) Kirby, Avoncore Place, Midleton, Co Cork, who died when their Honda Civic was in collision with another car at Innygregga, Midleton, on April 20th, 2005.
Colin McGregor told the inquest how he was driving at 60km an hour along the R629 from Ballincurra to Cloyne at about 6pm on the day in question when a car came around a bend about 200 yards in front of him and almost hit a car travelling in front of him.
The car started to slide across the road and was pointing in towards the ditch when it suddenly veered straight across the road in his path. "Basically they lost control, careered over to my side of the road. There was nothing I could do to avoid the collision," he said.
Diane Cashman told how as she was approaching the bend, a Honda Civic came around the corner extremely fast.
"I could see the driver struggling with the steering wheel - he was losing control. The car came over to my side of the road and narrowly missed us."
Her passenger, Elizabeth Griffin, told how she looked in her sun visor mirror after the car had narrowly missed them and saw it continue on its incorrect side of the road before colliding with Mr McGregor's car travelling behind them.
Garda Insp Michael O'Donovan examined both cars and found both had been in good working order before the crash save for one excessively worn rear tyre on the Kirbys' car. The impact crushed the Kirbys' car by some 42 inches on the passenger's side.
"From my examination of the vehicles and of the scene, I believe the Honda Civic lost control by rounding a right hand bend at excessive speed. The rear of the Honda broke loose, causing the vehicle to suddenly cross on to its incorrect side of the road," he said in his report.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster found no traces of alcohol or drugs in either of the dead men and concluded that both were killed virtually instantly with driver Paul dying from a tearing of his thoracic aorta and David breaking his neck.