A taxi driver who was killed in a crash on the M4 two years ago was more than eight times over the legal drink driving limit, an inquest has heard.
Aidan O'Brien, from Ballynanum, Edenderry, Co Offaly, died in the crash on the westbound carriageway of the M4 near Junction 8 shortly before midnight on 13 March 2024.
A sitting of Kildare Coroner’s Court heard the Toyota Prius being driven by the 49-year-old crashed into a motorway barrier between the off-ramp for Kilcock and the hard shoulder at 11.26pm.
The car came to a stop in the overtaking lane of the motorway and was then struck from behind by another vehicle around eight minutes later.
Coroner Dr Loretta Nolan said the results of a post-mortem examination showed Mr O'Brien had a blood alcohol concentration of 406mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit for fully licensed motorists is 50mg.
The coroner said it was one of the highest readings she had seen in recent years.
At that level of alcohol, Dr Nolan said Mr O'Brien was at risk of losing consciousness and dying from the effect of alcohol on its own.
She said a toxicology test had provided an even higher reading.
The inquest heard the collision pushed Mr O'Brien's stationary car onto the grass verge in the median of the M4, while the other vehicle came to a stop on the inside lane of the motorway.
Forensic collision investigator, Garda John Coughlan, said the road surface at the time was wet and it was raining with some motorists reporting reduced visibility.
The inquest heard contradictory evidence from two witnesses as to whether there were rear lights visible on the taxi while it was stopped on the motorway.
However, Gda Coughlan said it was not possible to check if the lights had been working due to the extent of the damage to the Toyota Prius.
A public service vehicle inspector, Garda James Keating, told the hearing that although his examination of the taxi was considerably hampered by the extensive damage caused to the vehicle, he did not think anything contributed to the accident "other than driver error."
However, he said there was an anomaly with the front tyre on the passenger side of the vehicle as it had slightly shorter height and sidewall measurements.
He said the mismatch of tyres could cause serious instability to the vehicle which might be considered dangerously defective under Section 54 of the Road Traffic Act 1961.
In reply to questions from coroner Loretta Nolan, Gda Keating agreed that the car would be unlikely to pass a NCT test in such a condition.
However, he accepted that the smaller tyre could be considered a "reasonable temporary measure" which might have been fitted in error.
He also found no mechanical defects with the other vehicle.
The inquest heard the driver, Thomas Murray, provided breath and saliva samples to gardaí which tested negative for alcohol and drugs.
In a statement, Garda Laura Fingleton said Mr Murray was in shock but otherwise suffered no physical injuries.
In evidence, Mr Murray said he was driving in the overtaking lane of the M4 while returning from an Irish Farmers' Association meeting to his home in Clonard, Co Meath.
He described how a car in front of him swerved into the other lane, but he was unable to avoid crashing into another vehicle that appeared to be stopped on the motorway.
Mr Murray said his van came to a stop on the inside lane and he ran behind a barrier until he realised he had left his phone in the vehicle.
He said he went to check on the driver of the Toyota Prius who appeared unresponsive.
However, Mr Murray said he was shaking too much to be able to check the other motorist's pulse.
As vehicles were still passing the scene at speed, he said he went back behind the barrier until the emergency services arrived.
Garda Mark Connolly said Mr O'Brien was unresponsive and showed no sign of life, and was also "mechanically trapped" in the vehicle.
The inquest heard a doctor formally pronounced Mr O'Brien dead at the scene of the collision at 1.10am on 14 March 2024.
Garda Connolly said he recovered two mobile phones and a bottle of Jägermeister from Mr O'Brien's car.
Motorist David Leonard told the inquest that he noticed a car ahead of him in the overtaking lane near the exit for Kilcock and initially thought it was moving slowly, before he quickly noticed when he was "nearly on top of the car" that it was stationary, almost as if it was "neatly parked."
Mr Leonard said he immediately took evasive action and saw another car in the overtaking lane a few seconds behind him who did not swerve and crashed into the taxi.
He said he did not stop as he felt it was unsafe to do so, but contacted gardaí later after reading about the incident on the RTÉ News app.
Another driver, Patrick Kelly, who came on the scene, described how he parked his vehicle on the hard shoulder and turned on his hazard lights before going back up the motorway to check on both drivers and to alert the emergency services.
Mr Kelly said he knew immediately the driver of the Toyota Prius was dead.
He said he also tried to alert other motorists as "someone else was going to get killed" because they would not see the collision until they were "right on top of it."
Relatives of Mr O’Brien thanked him for his actions and observed that he had probably saved other lives that night.
Mr O'Brien's sister, Martina O’Brien, gave evidence of formally identifying her brother’s body to gardaí.
The coroner attributed the cause of death to multiple traumatic injuries due to a road traffic collision as a result of acute ethanol intoxication.
Returning a verdict of death by misadventure, Dr Nolan said it was possible that Mr O'Brien was already unconscious at the time of both impacts with his vehicle.
The coroner offered her condolences to his family and noted it was "a very difficult way to lose a life."
