Elderly motorist in collision died from blood loss to scalp, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

An elderly motorist died as a result of blood loss from a wound to her scalp that was sustained in a collision in south Dublin last year, an inquest has heard.

Elizabeth Veitch Smyth, 84, a married mother of two from Dundrum, Dublin suffered fatal injuries in the collision involving her vehicle at Hillside Drive in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 on September 11th, 2024.

Ms Veitch Smyth was the sole occupant of a car which collided with several parked vehicles near the entrance to Castle Golf Club in Rathfarnham at approximately 10.30am.

The deceased’s son, David Smyth, told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court how he became aware of the accident when gardaí and his father, Melville, called to him at around 1pm.

Mr Smyth gave evidence of formally identifying his mother’s body to gardaí in St Colmcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, later that day.

Inspector Zita Woods applied for a six-month adjournment of the inquest on the basis that gardaí were still awaiting a report on the fatal incident from a forensic collision investigator.

Insp Woods said gardaí would require the adjournment period to await directions from the DPP once they had completed their file on the case.

Coroner Clare Keane said the results of a postmortem on Ms Veitch Smyth’s body showed she had died as a result of hypovolemic shock due to “significant blood loss from an extensive scalp injury due to a road traffic collision.”

Dr Keane granted the adjournment and fixed April 16th, 2024 for an update on the inquest.