*Gardaí at the scene of the crash in September 2023.
A RALLY driver has told an inquest that he could have been driving at speeds of 80mph to 100mph (129kmph to 161kmph) before braking in a bid to avoid impact in a fatal crash.
At the County Clare Coroner’s Court, Gerard Greene was giving evidence at the inquest of Kerry man and navigator Damien Fleming (37) who died from multiple injuries after Mr Greene’s car crashed into a stationary Ford Escort car containing Mr Fleming during the Clare Stages Rally on September 24th 2023.
In her verdict, Clare County Coroner, Isobel O’Dea delivered of accidental death into the death of Mr Fleming as she said, the collision was unintended.
In his deposition, Mr Greene described the moments before impact at Glencolmcille near the village of Carron in the Burren.
He said, “I noted 150 metres ahead a white Escort had pulled into the left hand side outside a house. They were people waving me off to the right and others to slow down”.
As the road was closed for the rally, there was no speed limit in operation at the time on the narrow stretch of road that had only room for one car.
Mr Greene continued, “I was doing 80 to 100 miles per hour. I can’t be sure. I moved as far right as much I could and felt that it caught some grass, I could feel the rear of the car going, I tried to correct it. My car skidded into the rear of a white escort”.
He said, “There was nothing I could do, it was over in a second”.
Mr Greene said that he was in ‘great pain’ after impact and managed to get himself out of his car and he was later taken to hospital.
He said, “I am very sorry for the unfortunate outcome and I feel devastated for the man’s family”.
The fatal collision occurred in front of a number of spectators along the route and one spectator, David Clarke, told the inquest he saw the Ford Escort ‘explode’ on impact.
The inquest heard that Mr Clarke’s teenage nephew was standing beside Mr Fleming’s car only ten seconds before impact.
In his deposition, the teenager said he jumped the gate from across the road after Mr Fleming called him over and told him that “in a few minutes he would be pulling out on the road and for me to guide him”.
The teenager said, “He showed me the hand signal for one car coming, two cars coming and ‘safe to go’. I was a bit nervous as I didn’t want to go out near the edge of the road and the cars were passing so fast”.
He said, “My aunt shouted to me to get back inside the gate and I was just getting over the gate when I saw the green car in my side vision and I had just jumped off the gate when I heard a bang”.
The teenager said that a bit of debris hit him in the back of the neck.
In his deposition, David Clarke said that there was three minutes between the Ford Escort stopping outside a gate at 13.16 and his nephew making the 999 call at 13.19 after the crash occurred.
Mr Clarke’s wife, Deirdre went to the scene to assist and asked by Clare County Coroner, Isobel O’Dea did she wish to add anything to her deposition statement, Mrs Clarke said that when all the men were around Mr Fleming on the road in the aftermath of the crash “I asked what is this man’s name and someone said ‘Damien’ and I said ‘Damien we are here with you. You are not alone’.”
Two eye-witnesses including Mr Clarke said that Mr Fleming had removed his helmet while sitting in the stationery Escort before impact.
The inquest also heard evidence from Mr Fleming’s co-driver, Nigel Creagh.
Mr Creagh said their car was experiencing mechanical difficulties and he pulled the car in opposite a farmhouse.
He said, “I pulled in as far as I could as there were large stones outside the gate”.
Mr Creagh said that he got out of the car to see what was wrong and he waved two cars passed.
In his own deposition, Mr Clarke said that he believed that Mr Creagh “was in great danger” at this time.
Mr Creagh said that saw a green escort coming. He said, “I was going to wave him off but I lost control. Prior to this I shouted at Damien to press the tracker to let the course know that there was a car stopped”.
Mr Creagh said that he ran towards the wall of the house “and I heard a loud bang”.
Mr Creagh said that he turned to see Damien lying in the doorway with one foot outside the car and another on the dashboard
He said, “I could not feel a pulse – he looked dead to me”.
The navigator in Mr Greene’s car, James Ward said that Mr Greene was trying to correct the spin “but we were too far gone and I just tried to brace for impact”.
He said that he spoke to an in-shock Mr Creagh and he said that he replied, “I am okay but Damien is dead”.
Mr Fleming’s driving colleagues and later paramedics tried to resuscitate Mr Fleming but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 14.08pm.
Garda Collision Investigator, Sgt Eoin O’Connor said that the accident occurred on a narrow section of road local road where there was no space for two vehicles passing.
He said that a blue rally car that passed the location prior to the crash was calculated at driving at 140kmph though admitted that there are significant limitations to this calculation.
On the fatal crash, Sgt O’Connor said that breaking occurred only 25 metres from point of impact
Sgt O’Connor said that there was a very limited timeframe to react to the hazard and most likely due to the limited sightline and limited visibility in heavy rain.
Sgt O’Connor said that it should be noted that Mr Greene was not warned on the approach to the hazard by the Course Marshal as it is a safety precaution outlined in the Safety Plan for such events.
In her words to the family at the conclusion of the inquest, Ms O’Dea said that she hopes that they take some comfort in that Damien was doing something that he loved.
On behalf of the Fleming family, Damien’s aunt, Nuala Fleming said at the end of the inquest “can I thank people for looking after him and for being so kind to him”.
She said that: “I am sorry for what they went through because that is something they are going to live with. We really appreciate the love and the care Damien got”.
