Verdict of death due to natural causes recorded in fatal Kildare motorway crash 

A VERDICT of death by natural causes has been recorded in the case of a young motorist whose van suddenly swerved across a motorway near Newbridge and struck a barrier protecting a flyover bridge.

Tomas Molevicius (26), a Lithuanian national and father of one with an address in Portarlington, Co Laois, died at the scene of the crash near Junction 12 (Newbridge/The Curragh) on the M7 Dublin-Limerick motorway at around 6.15am on November 22, 2023.

A sitting of Kildare Coroner’s Court heard Mr Molevicius was on his way to work in an industrial estate in Ballymount, Dublin.

An off-duty garda, Martin Halion, said he was driving on the M7 towards Dublin when he saw a white van in front of him swerve at a steep angle into the hard shoulder where it collided with a crash barrier before mounting it and coming to a stop under the flyover.

Garda Halion said he stopped his own car to check on the injured driver who was unresponsive.

However, he said he and other motorists were unable to open the driver’s door to help him out of the vehicle.

Another eyewitness, Brian Connaughton, said a white Renault Trafic van he was preparing to overtake suddenly veered onto the hard shoulder without indicating or braking.

Mr Connaughton said he saw the van becoming airborne before colliding with the bridge.

He recalled weather conditions at the time of the incident were dry but it had been raining earlier.

A paramedic who attended the scene of the collision, Padraig Kelly, said there were no signs of life and he assessed Mr Molevicius’ injuries to his skull and brain as being “incompatible with life.” The injured motorist was pronounced dead at the location of the crash at 7.43am.

A forensic collision investigator, Garda John Coughlan, said a GPS tracker on the victim’s van showed he had been driving at 103km/h shortly before the collision.

Garda Coughlan said the collision had resulted from the vehicle colliding with the crash barrier for “some undetermined reason.” 

He told the coroner, Loretta Nolan, that he found no evidence to suggest Mr Molevicius had used his brakes or changed direction.

Garda Coughlan said a separate examination of the 211-D reg van driven by the deceased had found no evidence of any mechanical fault that might have contributed to the collision.

An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Thomas Doyle, said an investigation had established that Mr Molevicius was driving a work vehicle which belonged to his employer, Spanners – a subsidiary of the Panda group which operates a licensed test centre for commercial vehicles.

Mr Doyle said the deceased had held a Lithuanian driving licence and had been driving for around 15 minutes after leaving his home before the fatal incident.

He confirmed that Mr Molevicius was wearing a seat belt and that the vehicle’s airbag had deployed in the collision.

Dr Nolan said the results of a postmortem showed there was no alcohol or drugs in the motorist’s system.

However, the coroner said they revealed that he suffered severe coronary atherosclerosis – a build-up of plaque inside the arteries – despite his young age.

Dr Nolan said the victim’s main artery had a 90% blockage, while there was a 75% blockage in another artery.

She said it was clear that Mr Molevicius had suffered some medical event which caused him to lose control of the vehicle.

The coroner recorded the cause of death as head injuries due to a road traffic collision which had resulted from cardiac atherosclerosis.

Dr Nolan recorded a verdict of death due to natural causes and advised relatives of the deceased to consider screening because of the condition which Mr Molevicius had for a young man.