A motorcyclist who died from a traumatic brain injury appeared to have a “moment of madness” and “road rage” before a single-vehicle collision on a Dublin motorway, an inquest has heard.
Edward Scallan, a 43-year-old father of two, died following a crash on the M1 while travelling home from work at Dublin Airport in August 2023.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday that Mr Scallan lost control of his motorcycle seconds after an apparent “moment of madness” in which he overtook a van that had cut across him without indicating moments prior.
Alan O’Meara, who was travelling southbound on the M1 and approaching the M50 interchange moments before the collision, witnessed the interaction between both drivers.
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“It struck me, I thought there might have been a bit of road rage,” he said.
Mr Scallan became separated from his motorcycle before colliding with a nearby speed sign.
An off-duty nurse and a member of Bray Fire Brigade, alongside a garda who had finished duty for the evening, came across the scene and performed CPR on Mr Scallan, who was unconscious.
Although he was pronounced dead at Beaumont Hospital, coroner Dr Cróna Gallagher told his family that his death would have been “instantaneous”.
Gardaí were unable to identify the driver of the white van who pulled in after the collision but drove away soon after.
Garda Lyn Connaughton, a forensic collision investigator, estimated Mr Scallan was driving at about 112km/h as he approached the site of the collision located in a 60km/h zone.
Following the van’s cutting across him without indicating, she said, Mr Scallan could be seen overtaking him on the passenger’s side and pulling in front before flashing his brake lights “as if to say: ‘What was that about?’”
He lost control of the bike about “four or five seconds” after overtaking the van, she said.
Asked for her opinion as to the cause of the collision, she said: “I believe, as Mr O’Meara said, maybe a bit of road rage, just a moment of madness.”
His medical cause of death was recorded as a traumatic brain injury with a skull fracture secondary to a motorcycle road traffic incident, while a verdict of accidental death was returned by Dr Gallagher.
Family members raised concerns at the placement of the speed sign, which is still located next to the road, within the barrier, rather than outside it, with one adding “he might have had a chance” if the sign was positioned differently.
The inquest heard that Transport Infrastructure Ireland was contacted about the sign’s placement by gardaí following the collision, though no response has been received, with Dr Gallagher saying she would write to the State agency.
