The family of a woman who died after being hit by a lorry in Dublin are calling for sensors to be mandatory on the front of large vehicles.
48-year-old Olivia Loader died after she was hit by the truck while trying to cross the Phibsborough Road at the Connaught Street Junction.
An inquest heard she tried to cross the road while the lights were red for pedestrians, but traffic was fully stopped.
Evidence showed that the driver of the lorry could not have seen her as he moved off due to blind spots on his vehicle.
On Newstalk Breakfast his morning, Olivia’s son Alan Buckley said his mother might still be alive if the truck had been fitted with sensors to detect people in its blind spots.
“It’s a simple change,” he said. “If there were sensors to alert the driver at the time, that could have prevented my mother’s death.
“The truck was on a halt. It wasn’t moving and that is where my family and I feel the little, small change of a sensor could save someone.”
Mr Buckley said the inquest heard that his mother put her hand up to wave at the truck driver before crossing but he didn’t see her due to the blind spot.
He said most truck drivers would welcome the sensors if they were made mandatory.
“I think, if you ask a lorry driver, if it will save a life, I think they would say yes for a little beeping system,” he said.
“I can’t see why not. When trucks are travelling 30kph or 60kph, I understand there is a big stoppage but what we’re saying is, if it is going 0 to 15kph it could save someone’s life in the near future.
“That is what we want to see and we even said it on the day of my other’s inquest hearing.”
