A DRIVER on trial accused of dangerous driving causing the death of a truck driver drove into the path of the truck moments before the fatal collision, the accused man’s trial heard today (Friday).
The driver of the truck, Arturs Birznieks, a father of two from Latvia who was living in County Mayo, died at the scene after his cab was completely destroyed in the collision, which occurred at 2.50am at N21, Reens East, Ardagh, County Limerick, on March 18, 2022.
The accused, Niall O’Halloran (57), of Woodfield Drive, Newcastle West, County Limerick, represented by solicitor Michael O’Donnell, Rathkeale, denied dangerous driving causing Mr Birznieks’s death, as well as being drunk behind the wheel of his red VW Passat at the time of the fatal collision.
It is the prosecution’s case, led by barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by State Solicitor Brendan Gill, assisted by paralegal Sarah Heavenor, that Mr O’Halloran drove on the wrong side of the N21 and into Mr Birznieks path, forcing the truck driver to take “evasive action” to try to avoid a collision.
Prosecution witness, Mike Reddy, a Garda Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Inspector with more than 30 years’ experience in conducting forensic collision investigations, gave evidence that, in his opinion after examining the scene, the accused’s car had been traveling in the wrong lane of the N21 at the moment of the impact.
Inspector Reddy said he believed the driver, carrying a full load of chickens from a farm, had begun steering his truck to the right away from the accused’s car in order to try to avoid impact.
The two vehicles were traveling in opposite directions to one another when the collision occurred.
Inspector Reddy, who the court heard was previously an international truck driver, said he found that the car and the truck were both in good working order prior to the collision and that neither vehicle had any defects that could have contributed to the collision.
The court was shown photographs of both vehicles that were left completely destroyed in the impact.
Inspector Reddy said it was his view that Mr Birznieks had no chance of survival because the driver’s cab “disintegrated” after the truck collided with a wall and was sandwiched by its trailer, following the initial collision with the accused’s car.
Mark Nicholas, for Mr O’Halloran, put it to Insp Reddy that the accused had told investigating Gardaí that moments before the fatal collision, he was traveling on the correct side of the road and he had flashed his car lights at Mr Birznieks truck as it was veering over onto his lane.
Insp Reddy said it was his opinion that the accused’s car had been on the wrong side of the road when it impacted with the front passenger side of the truck as the truck was trying to turn away from it.
The front left wheel of the truck was torn off in the impact and was never located, its diesel tank was “sheered off”, its electrical systems were “completely destroyed”, and “nothing was left where it should have been”, said the witness.
Insp Reddy said it was his view that the truck’s steering was damaged by the “sledgehammer effect” of the initial collision. The truck then “jackknifed” and “demolished a wall” before coming to a stop in a field.
Insp Reddy said part of the accused’s car was sheered off in the impact, which the accused’s barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, described as being like “cutting through cheese”.
The accused’s driver’s cockpit remained intact, and the car’s electrical systems were completely destroyed.
Insp Reddy said the car’s airbags deployed, and he believed the accused’s life was most likely saved by the fact he was wearing his seat-belt at the time.
Both vehicles were travelling between 80-85kph, well under the speed limit of 100 kph, the court heard.
Garda Sergeant Kevin Bourke, a Garda forensic collision investigator who also examined the the scene, described the damage to Mr Birznieks cab as “catastrophic”.
Sgt Bourke said the truck driver’s cab was “peeled off” in the carnage, leaving the steering wheel and engine “exposed”.
“In 18 years of conducting forensic collision investigations, I’ve never seen a truck as badly damaged,” said Sgt Bourke.
The trial continues before a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Monday.