A cyclist who was killed by a truck driver in Dublin three years ago was "available to be seen" if the driver had looked in his wing mirror before moving his truck to take a turn, the inquest into his death has been told.
Sgt Ray Andrews of Kevin Street Garda station told Dublin Coroner's Court that a file on the fatal crash had been prepared for the director of public prosecutions (DPP), who directed no criminal charges should be brought against the driver.
The inquest into the death of Neeraj Jain (34) in November 2019 was told the driver could have seen him if he had checked in his mirror, and may have been able to take last second preventative action to avoid the crash.
The deceased man was from Faridabad, India, and had moved to Ireland in 2018 to undertake a Masters degree in Engineering in University College Dublin. At the time of his death he had just begun working for Deloitte.
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Mr Jain was killed on the morning of Friday, November 1st, 2019, when he was hit by a cement truck at the junction of South Circular Road and Brookfield Road. The lorry driver - who is himself now deceased - swung his lorry out give himself space to turn onto the construction site of the new National Children’s Hospital.
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Mr Jain had been or the road on his bike and then on the pavement before being struck by the lorry just as he came back onto the road. The driver kept driving onto the site and had to be alerted to what had happened by a worker on the site gesturing at him to stop. He later told gardaí he felt a "bump" but thought he had clipped the pavement as he swung his truck in the road.
Garda forensic collision expert John Culleton said the driver may have seen Mr Jain on the footpath and expected him to stay there. However, he said if the driver had checked his mirror before he swung the truck he would have seen Mr Jain on the road on the bike and may have been able to take preventative action, such as braking.
He added Mr Jain was "available to be seen” by the driver, who did not see him because of his actions behind the wheel. Mr Jain was the youngest of three siblings and his brother viewed the inquest via video link.
Mr Jain died from massive multiple trauma as a result of cerebral injury as a result of being hit. Coroner Aisling Gannon said the inquest could choose between a verdict of accidental death or a narrative verdict - which outlines how a death occurred but does not attribute blame.
As the evidence suggested Mr Jain was "available to be seen” by the lorry driver she ruled out a verdict of accidental death and instead gave a narrative verdict. At the time of Mr Jain's death concern had been raised about safety outside the construction site, and the volume of trucks, going in and out. Mr Jain's death also prompted a protest vigil by cyclists and campaigners at the time.
