An elderly woman died after she was struck by a reversing refuse truck as she crossed the street in Dublin’s Ranelagh village.
Rose Hoey (85), Woodstock Court, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 was struck by the refuse truck as she crossed the street on the morning of November 14th 2014.
CCTV footage showed the truck stopping at the entrance to Westmoreland Park, a cul de sac. The driver waited for a gap in the traffic in order to reverse into the laneway.
The woman is shown waiting at the corner of Westmoreland Park and Ranelagh Road at 9.39 am for 18 seconds before crossing the street towards the Taphouse bar. Both she and the truck move off simultaneously and the woman moved into the truck driver’s blind spot as she crossed the street.
PSV Inspector Alan Quinn said the reverse lights on the truck were not working.
“There were minor defects including defective reverse lights but in my opinion these had no bearing on the incident,” he said.
There was nothing visual or audible to let pedestrians know the truck was reversing other than its motion, the court heard.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said: "She may have had some indication of what was what happening but only moments before it happened."
“She died instantly,” the coroner added.
The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and recommended that technology such as rear view cameras be installed in HGV vehicles to improve safety.