Driver dead in car on roundabout for two days

A 69-year-old man who failed to brake before driving straight into the centre of a city roundabout, remained undiscovered for two days until a passenger in a bus raised the alarm.

At an inquest at Galway Courthouse, a recommendation was made by the jury that all roundabouts be adequately lit up at night, offer clear visibility around them, and be well signposted.

Richard Beswick, from Kilrickle, had died almost instantly from injuries sustained in the crash on November 2 last year. However, the Coroner for West Galway, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin, said that action needed to be taken even if the injuries sustained were not life-threatening.

“They could have a minor injury but it could become fatal because of the time it takes to get to them, they could bleed to death or get hypothermia,” he warned.

“The foliage is there to stop drivers from being dazzled by oncoming lights . . . the roundabout looks lovely in the photographs, and probably very expensive, but that is one of the flaws.”

The accident occurred at the Martin Roundabout, near the Galway Clinic, late that night.

Searches were carried out for him, but there were no sightings until a passenger in a double decker bus spotted the red Honda Civic in the centre of the roundabout. Mr Beswick’s crashed car was located on its side, and he was pronounced dead at 3.14pm on November 5.

Collision investigator, Garda Ollie Whyte, said that there was no sign of skid-marks, which would suggest that the car was driving at 85 km/h when it went straight through the roundabout, and up the embankment, before coming to an abrupt stop.

The rescue services cut back trees and bushes to access the accident site, but the Inquest heard that even after that it would still have been difficult to see the car from the roadway.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune