The jury at an inquest into the death of a six-year-old boy who was struck by a car outside his home has recommended the introduction of a mandatory 30km/h speed limit in housing estates.
The inquest into the death of Kilkenny boy Jake Brennan in June 2014 heard how he lay dying in his mother's arms after he was hit by a car.
The boy’s parents, Christopher and Roseann Brennan, subsequently launched a high-profile Jake’s Legacy campaign for lower speed limits in housing estates.
The jury at the inquest in Carlow also called for improved signage in housing estates after it heard emergency services had trouble finding the cul-de-sac where the Brennans lived. It took the ambulance crew four minutes to drive across Kilkenny city to the estate, but a further three minutes to find Lintown Grove. A garda described the area as “a maze”.
The boy died from crush injuries to his chest and abdomen as a result of being struck by a car, the jury decided in accordance with medical evidence.
Deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said the injuries were "consistent with being run over and dragged by the front bodywork of a vehicle".
Coroner Dr Brendan Doyle is to write to the Department of Transport about the jury's recommendation for lower speed limits in housing estates and improved signage.
Ms Brennan, the boy’s mother, said she and her three children had been in McDonagh Junction shopping centre in Kilkenny on the evening of June 12th, 2014, before returning home to her husband Christopher who was getting dinner ready. The children had ice-cream and played in the shopping centre’s play area. Jake had said it was the “best day of my life” she told the inquest.
At home he put on a little show for them and sang a song. The children had their dinner on a little table and chairs on the front lawn. Her brother-in-law Pat O’Hara arrived to return her husband’s lawnmower and they chatted for a few minutes.
Just as Mr O’Hara was about to leave, Jake asked her if he could go across the road to the green. She was going to say no, but said he could go for a few minutes.
She saw a car and heard a bang, “and I knew.” She screamed “no!” and “Jake!” and saw him going up into the air and coming down again. “I knew by how far he went up that he was destroyed.”
She ran over to him and he was saying “mammy, mammy, I’m sorry”. And as she held him she told him it was not his fault. He said, “mammy I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die”.
His breathing became slower. The ambulance arrived but “I knew he was gone and never coming back”. The paramedics worked on him for some time at the scene, before bringing him to hospital in the ambulance with his parents accompanying them. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
‘Jake’s Law’
Ms Brennan told her solicitor Michael Lanigan that she had since campaigned for speed limits in housing estates, currently at 50km/h, to be reduced to 20km/h and wanted this to be "Jake's Law" and her son's legacy.
Her husband Christopher said he made the 999 call after Jake was struck and said to the driver of the car involved that “you were speeding”. She denied it, he added.
The driver of the car that hit Jake, Katarzyna Biala (39) was not well enough to attend the inquest but a statement she gave to gardaí was read out. She said she was not speeding and never saw Jake from the side, but just when her car hit him. “He just flew up in the air a bit. It happened so fast. I don’t know where he came from.”
She was “in shock” afterwards. She also told gardaí she thought she was driving at about 20-30km/h.
The inquest heard that, after a Garda investigation and a file being sent to the DPP’s office, a decision was made by the DPP not to bring any prosecution.
Forensic collision investigator Garda Maurice Mahon said that, based on the point of impact outlined by Ms Brennan and the distance Ms Biala would have travelled from her own house nearby, the car was travelling at between 44km/h and 46km/h at the time.
A neighbour, Michael O’Keeffe, who saw the collision from his front room, told the inquest he felt the car was “going too fast”.
Mr O'Hara said he remembered the car "going fairly fast" and his passenger Carl Gleeson said he thought the car was "going a bit fast for an estate". Mr O'Hara also said the car travelled up to another 70 yards before stopping and he saw Jake "staggering" towards his mother before collapsing to the ground.
Mr Gleeson said he saw Jake coming from “under the car” after the collision.
The coroner said Jake’s death had left “a huge space in the lives of a lot of people”, particularly his parents and family. But his legacy would serve as “a beacon to his memory”.
Speaking after the inquest, Ms Brennan said she had had a dream about Jake the previous night. “He was such a cuddly, funny, really loveable little lad.”
She said it was “very upsetting” to go back over details of his last moments. The family’s lives were “ruined”, she said. “Family days out start with visiting Jake’s grave. That’s not right. We had two little boys and a little girl. Before she [Jake’s sister] goes to bed at night, she kisses his picture and they say good morning to him. That’s not fair.”
The couple welcomed the jury’s recommendation for 30km/h speed limits in housing estates. “We feel our baby didn’t die in vain,” said Ms Brennan.
Response
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the speed limit in housing estates currently stands at 50km/h, but local authorities have the option of lowering it to 30km/h.
The Road Traffic Bill 2016, which passed through the Seanad but did not come before the last Dáil before it was dissolved, would have given local authorities the option to lower the limit to 20km/h. The spokesman said local authorities were “best placed” to make such determinations.
There was cross-party support for the proposal to allow lower speed limits.