Louise Butler was on the inside of a truck that was turning left and was knocked from her bike and driven over, the inquest into her death has been told.
The inquest into the death of a young woman who lost her life when she was hit by a truck while cycling in south Dublin last year has been told the driver prayed with her as she lay injured and he was unable to find her pulse.
Louise Butler was cycling in Blackrock when a heavy goods vehicle that was turning left while she was on its inside knocked her from her bike and ran over her.
The 26-year-old was commuting from her home in Ranelagh to her job in Monkstown on August 15th last when she was fatally injured at the junction of Frascati Rd and Carysfort Ave at around 8:40am.
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She was rushed by ambulance to St Vincent’s University Hospital but was pronounced dead there shortly after arrival.
She had sustained a range of injuries including to her chest and skull fractures.
Ms Butler was originally from the Glen of Imaal in Co Wicklow. She had cycled to work every day to the Avoca Food Market and Salt Café in Monkstown and had a degree in event management.
The inquest into her death at Dublin Coroner’s Court today heard from the driver of the truck involved in the incident; Stephen Bolger, Walsh Island, Co Offaly.
He had earlier made a delivery to Superquinn supermarket in Blackrock but was returning there to deliver a load that had become mixed up with a delivery for another shop.
He was turning left from Frascati Rd onto Carysfort Ave, travelling towards Blackrock village, when his vehicle hit Ms Butler. She was intending to continue straight on Frascati Rd in the direction of nearby Monkstown.
Mr Bolger said he was in the queue of traffic at a red light and when the lights turned green for him he had checked his inside via the mirrors on his vehicle and the way was clear.
As he turned the corner, he said he checked the mirrors again because the junction was tight. And while he did not see Ms Butler during that second check, a few moments later he heard a number of bumps and saw her on the ground having been knocked from her bike.
“I really did not see her,” he told coroner Dr Brian Farrell.
“I checked and I checked. I honestly have no idea where she came from.”
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He jumped from the cab of his truck and ran to Ms Butler, remaining with her until the ambulance and gardai arrived.
“I went down on my knees. I put my hand on her face and I called to her and asked her was she okay.”
He added while she was not responsive and he could not find a pulse, he thought she was still alive.
“I told her there was an ambulance on the way. I asked her to hang on. I held her hand and said a prayer.”
Another cyclist at the scene, Joseph Delaney said when he reached the junction on his bike he could see there was no enough space for him on the inside of the truck, so he went in front of the vehicle.
Dublin Bus driver Darren Matthews was behind the truck and said he could see the accident happening even before the collision. He believed Ms Butler was on the inside of the truck, in the area beneath the vehicle’s wing mirror.
Mr Matthews said the truck’s wheels ran over both Ms Butler and her bike after making contact with her when the vehicle moved out to the right and then began turning left to take the corner.
Garda Edward Davin said it was not clear if Ms Butler had entered the junction via the left side of the road or by coming from the footpath onto the road.
However, if she had come from the footpath she may have been out of the range of the truck’s mirrors on the left side of the vehicle that knocked her to the ground.
The hearing was told the truck met with requirements around mandatory mirrors but still had some blind areas.
The jury, who expressed their condolences to Ms Butler’s family extended their empathy to Mr Bolger, returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
Dr Farrell said there had been many cases of cyclists being killed when they were on the left of high sided vehicles turning left, though most blind spots had been addressed with mirrors.
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