THE TRIAL of a woman charged with dangerous driving causing the deaths of her niece and nephew has heard a claim that her vehicle may have accelerated out of control because of oil in the inter-cooler.
It was also said that such a situation could have created “an unexpected” and “undesired burst of excessive speed”.
Vera Murden (40), Fatima Court, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of brother and sister Jenna (4) and Jayden Murden (1).
They were two of five children travelling with her in a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV that left the road and crashed into the wall of a former pub at the junction of Maxwell Row and the Newry bridge in Dundalk on January 31st, 2009.
Jenna died on February 24th and Jayden died on March 5th in Temple Street children’s hospital.
Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha, defending, told the court yesterday that an expert witness for the defence who examined the vehicle found pooling of oil in the inter-cooler attached to the turbo-charger.
It was the expert’s opinion that this “could have caused the vehicle to run out of control” and accelerate out of control, Mr Ó Lideadha said.
He put the possibility to Garda Sgt Séamus Walsh, a public service vehicle inspector, who said it was “not unusual” to find small quantities of oil in engines.
Mr Ó Lideadha said if substantial amounts of oil were sucked in, it could create a “massive increase in energy and power in the engine” and if that continued to happen, the engine could rev uncontrollably.
In reply Garda Sgt Walsh said that was possible “if the driver doesn’t react”. He added that “as soon as a vehicle starts to increase in speed, it is incumbent on the driver to take control”.
Mr Ó Lideadha said if there was oil in the inter-cooler, it was “unlikely” to have got there after the collision, with which Garda Sgt Walsh agreed.
He asked the sergeant if he could not “exclude the possibility that oil in the inter-cooler caused the vehicle to rev up and accelerate out of control?” to which the sergeant replied: “Not conclusively to the extent that I am absolutely positive.”
|Garda Sgt Walsh said that when a turbo started to fail, there was noise, heavy smoke and “in most cases an engine loses control. Drivers describe it as like driving with the handbrake on.”
There was a “remote possibility” of an engine revving up but this would happen “where an engine was already revving”, such as in an overtaking move.
The examination of the vehicle found extensive damage was caused to it but Garda Sgt Walsh said he found no mechanical defects. He said the speedometer was stuck at 110km/h and the tachometer (which measures revs) at 4,750 revs a minute. He said the 110km/h was not an accurate indication of its actual speed.
The court also heard that Denis Wood, an expert engineer for the defence, estimated the speed of the SUV at the point of collision was 81km/h or higher.
Mr Wood had estimated that if the vehicle was travelling at 100km/h, it would have taken two seconds to travel from the crest of the bridge to the collision scene and this would have “created very little time for making decisions”, Mr Ó Lideadha said.