Woman killed by van in Raheny

macwal

chooseusername wrote: »

Wouldn't be too difficult as can be seen in this view of the two vans on the cycle/ walking lane

Wouldn't be difficult if you weren't suffering a medical event, or were fully intending to drive on the cycle path.

Princess Calla

chooseusername wrote: »

Wouldn't be too difficult as can be seen in this view of the two vans on the cycle/ walking lane

Yeah, the Kilbarrack Road is the perpendicular blue line, so you would be driving straight then turning right.

I've seen those vans pulling in and they do so very gingerly.

The angle of that picture is also making the entrance look larger than it is.

I never said it could not be done it would just be awkward especially when suffering a medical issue.

Zulu

Princess Calla wrote: »

Yeah, the Kilbarrack Road is the perpendicular blue line, so you would be driving straight then turning right.

I've seen those vans pulling in and they do so very gingerly.

The angle of that picture is also making the entrance look larger than it is.

I never said it could not be done it would just be awkward especially when suffering a medical issue.

Exactly, it's not that it cant be done, it's just highly improbable someone having a stroke, or heart attack would be doing it without going over the edge/hitting the wall.

expectationlost

need some bollards there

spurious

A couple of weeks ago, I was behind a car whose driver almost made the same error it appears this driver did. They were coming from Kilbarrack Road, turning right, went partly onto the path to go through the gap in the wall, realised their mistake and got back on course, but they could have ended up in behind the wall.

The driving for 1km without realising the mistake is scary, but perhaps the driver was not fully aware. Terrible incident.

Princess Calla

expectationlost wrote: »

need some bollards there

I think there's none as emergency access might be required, especially as so close to water.

That may change, though this is very much a freak accident. In my opinion anyway.

Pawwed Rig

It looks like noone realised she had been hit until a while after the van was stopped. Poor woman seems to have been lying on the rocks unnoticed for a while.

Thankfully the tide was out from the coastguards perspective as they would have been searching for potential victims all night as they would have no idea how many people had been hit. It would have been a case of waiting for missing persons reports.

Princess Calla

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It looks like noone realised she had been hit until a while after the van was stopped. Poor woman seems to have been lying on the rocks unnoticed for a while.

Thankfully the tide was out from the coastguards perspective as they would have been searching for potential victims all night as they would have no idea how many people had been hit. It would have been a case of waiting for missing persons reports.

That is heartbreaking.

The currents in that estuary are very strong. So yeah, small mercy the tide was out.

Strumms

expectationlost wrote: »

need some bollards there

Was about to post the same, there should be for sure a ‘physical’ barrier to prevent the mixing of bikes and traffic. Someone with impaired judgement due to a medical event or under the influence of alcohol or drugs could mistakenly try and use the lane in a vehicle.

Sleeper12

Pawwed Rig wrote:

It looks like noone realised she had been hit until a while after the van was stopped. Poor woman seems to have been lying on the rocks unnoticed for a while.

I'm not sure this is fact. They found her & pronounced her dead quickly enough. Unfortunately they didn't know if she was alone. Emergency services searched for another two hours in case he hit more than one person. It was the helicopter that alerted most of the neighbours

Sleeper12

Princess Calla wrote:

It's wider at that point for access to the pumping station.

Passed it several times today. I cou easily swing onto the cycle track If I wanted. It's not as awkward as some believe it to be. I've seen DCC trucks on the cycle tracks dozens of times before

d51984

If he entered where they said he entered (kilbarrack Rd) and she was struck in and around the Howth rd slip, its still a good distance.

On a different note, Im a bus driver now but I was a courier driver for 15 years and Ive driven every type of van possible. I see the van involved was a newer type Renault master. The steering lock on these are woefull. From my experience it would of taking him about 3 attempts to straighten the van up after he entered the track.

d51984

I meant from my experience of driving a Renault Master type van and trying to turn them in a sharp and tight environment.

Pawwed Rig

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'm not sure this is fact

It is unfortunately. There were a number of people around the van but there was noone around where the poor girl had been hit. I am guessing that noone actually saw her being hit which would make sense given the dark and glare of lights.

Do you know who found her? Was it the emergency services?

mrcheez

Jesus Christ that thing is a monster! Must have been at least 95% width of the track between wall and edge.

Cycling along there tonight I note that it is particularly narrow where the flowers are. Just incredibly bad luck for the lady to have been at that one spot as earlier along the track it's a tad wider so she may only have been clipped

yourdeadwright

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Driver was only a few hundred yards before hitting this lady. His van continued for a few hundred yards after before coming to a stop.

May not seems like it but the Van traveled 1 k,

expectationlost

Princess Calla wrote: »

There's a four foot wall between bikes and traffic.

He entered an access point for the cycle lane and pedestrian walkway.

It's wider at that point for access to the pumping station.

need bolllards just beyond the pumping station is what I meant.

Princess Calla

expectationlost wrote: »

need bolllards just beyond the pumping station is what I meant.

Yeah but I think the reason for not having them there is emergency access.

yourdeadwright

expectationlost wrote: »

need bolllards just beyond the pumping station is what I meant.

There needs to space for an ambulance to reach runner, cyclists, walkers if there a problem,
You can't close off an area completely because of one incident,
What about every footpath in the country beside a road

d51984

If anything happened surely the ambulance would just pull up on the road anyway, considering the road runs right beside most of the track. When the fatal innocent happened the other night, all emergency vehicles including the Coast guard and Garda sub aqua unit were all parked on the road.

They lifted the inflatable boat over the small wall that divides the road and track and placed it in water.

The only vehicles I can see that would need access would be maintenance crews. Can they not install raising bollards and give crews who need access a fob to lower them?

Spanish Eyes

There are bollards that can be raised, then lowered into the ground if access is required. Not sure how they work, with a key or zapper? Would that work?

RIP that lady.

Strumms

Princess Calla wrote: »

There's a four foot wall between bikes and traffic.

He entered an access point for the cycle lane and pedestrian walkway.

It's wider at that point for access to the pumping station.

I think I know where you mean, still to have the cycle path ‘accessible’ regardless of how is a bit weird, bollards operating mechanically up and down preventing access directly to the cycle path just seems sensible to be honest.

Pawwed Rig

She is being buried this morning

RIP

arybvtcw0eolkf

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

She is being buried this morning

RIP

I was timekeeping & Photographer at Father Collins parkrun on Saturday morning but my thoughts were with Nuala as were many others.

I don't run down that particular path I I prefer to run either in St. Anne's or on Portmarnock beach) but its my cycle commute home, and my daughter walks the dogs on the path. I can't help but think of Nuala and her poor family.

Some despicable comments on this thread.

Such a tragic loss, RIP Nuala Grant

Zulu

Having considered this over the weekend, I might just take this opportunity to apologise for my tone in posts over the past week.

As Sleeper12 has being trying to point out we dont have the full picture or facts. Trying to fill in the blanks while shocked and somewhat angry at (the tenuous link we have to life), isn't helpful or productive. Indeed there are two shattered families by this instance and the bigger person would be considerate to both. I, for my own part, failed to be the bigger person last week. I'll try harder this week.

RIP Nuala, and condolences to your family. Apologies to everyone else for any further hurt or anguish I may have caused.

CrankyHaus

I noticed over the last year that vans and cars have begun to occassionally illegally park up on the hard surface there beside the bollards separating the pedestrian walkway and cycle track from the pumping station . It seems to be anglers or people wading the lagoon for bait.

I remember thinking something should be done to bar public vehicle access from the road there. Sad to see someone die as a result. RIP

Pawwed Rig

Personally I think bollards are an over reaction. In such case we need to segregate every footpath in the country by fencing of some sort as there have been numerous people killed on footpaths. I don't believe you can plan for these types of incidents other than have laws on driving while competent to do so.

CrankyHaus

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Personally I think bollards are an over reaction. In such case we need to segregate every footpath in the country by fencing of some sort as there have been numerous people killed on footpaths. I don't believe you can plan for these types of incidents other than have laws on driving while competent to do so.

We're not talking about every footpath. We're talking about a specific section of a segregated cycle and walking path with an expectation of no vehicles being present that has a vehicle access ramp sometimes abused by members of the public to illegally park on the path.

It's common for measures to be taken to control vehicle access at specific points where and when it becomes a problem. You'll pass many such examples every day.

Bollards aren't the only control measure either. Signage, Garda enforcement, an unlocked gate etc are all examples of measures that can be taken.

Your argument seems to be that because no measure can remove every risk no measure should be taken to reduce any risk.

Pawwed Rig

CrankyHaus wrote: »

sometimes abused by members of the public to illegally park on the path.

The van in question was the first time I have ever seen a vehicle down that way. There is a bigger issue with vehicular traffic up past the bus station in Clontarf than down at Kilbarrack Road. On the stretch there are also sections of the segregation wall that could be driven over if you were so inclined.
St Anne's park could also be driven into if you were so inclined as could Dollymount etc etc. It is virtually impossible to segregate everything so how far do you go?

It would be very difficult for anyone to mistake the junction at the end of Kilbarrack Road. There is so little ambiguity about the junction that I doubt it ever even occurred to anyone that additional barriers might be required. We need to assume a level of competence from drivers.

Half-cocked

I was a peripheral witness to the incident and made a statement to the Gardaí.

What's been established to date is that the driver turned right onto the cycleway from the Kilbarrack Rd. He continued for some distance after he hit the victim. He is a diabetic.


The investigation will ascertain the exact circumstances surrounding this tragedy.