Woman (with drink in her) trips over wall and drowns in canal - coroner's reaction

Seth Brundle · 24-08-2015 05:02PM #1

I note from this Irish Times article that a woman tripped over a 1m high wall and fell into the canal and tragically died.

However, the coroner is going to "write to Waterways Ireland for the matter of the height of the wall to be evaluated in the public interest".

This pathway runs between the canal and a busy road. Should the coroner write to the council to have a big wall put up in case someone else with drink on them staggers onto the road and gets hit by a car?

Is the coroner right in this occasion to lobby for some kind of change to the wall? Should the wall be raised "in the public interest"?

Squeeonline · 24-08-2015 05:11PM

Oh please, not the "somebody think of the children" argument.

We shouldn't be a society that blunts every sharp corner with inches of padding.

*insert nanny state argument*

edit: huh, the post I was referring to has been removed

nokia69 · 24-08-2015 05:12PM

its sad that the woman died but the coroner is wrong in this case

we can't be building walls along every canal or river

FloatingVoter · 24-08-2015 05:13PM

Woman with drink on her bangs head against wall. Sues DCC. Lives happily ever after.

Dyr · 24-08-2015 05:15PM

nokia69 wrote: »

its sad that the woman died but the coroner is wrong in this case

we can't be building walls along every canal or river

I don't think the coroner suggested that

knird evol · 24-08-2015 05:18PM

They could attach springs to the wall so that free wandering dipsos will bounce back the way they came.

ceadaoin. · 24-08-2015 05:18PM

Well it does say in the article that 'a lot' of people have fallen in there. That's the victims sister saying that though so not sure how accurate that is. I suppose if it's happening frequently then maybe it should be looked at.

The Backwards Man · 24-08-2015 05:18PM

The Coroner said that they should evaluate it as it was a factor in the death. That's his job, to determine cause of death and the factors contributing to it. He did his job, and you're all whining about it.

Did none of ye ever watch Quincy? It's high time ye did.

Dyr · 24-08-2015 05:19PM

They'll be putting seatbelts in car's next. Nanny state gone mad.

suicide_circus · 24-08-2015 05:21PM

The wall is at that height so people can see and enjoy the canal. It's sad for this lady's family that she was in the habit of walking drunk beside the canal.

super_furry · 24-08-2015 05:22PM

If a wall is small enough for someone to trip over, sober or otherwise, it’s a danger.

Seth Brundle · 24-08-2015 05:22PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Did none of ye ever watch Quincy? It's high time ye did.

Different jurisdiction so doesn't apply (although loved it when I was younger) - the closest coroner-on-tv thing we have here is Marie Cassidy doing "The restaurant"

conorh91 · 24-08-2015 05:25PM

There's no way that part of the canal wall is 1 metre high from the pavement.

I have often walked along there in the ice, and had to cross the street, because if I tripped, I'd have fallen in. It is noticeably low. I'd be wary of letting kids ride bikes along it. It is similarly low further up as you approach Leeson Street.

This would be a fairly cheap construction job. As someone familiar with this road, I'd be in favour of it.

Here's an image of the wall in question. As you cans see it's very low. A man died by falling into the same spot on Christmas morning, 2008 or 2009.

nokia69 · 24-08-2015 05:28PM

drinking too much booze is what caused this womans death

Darwin strikes again

paddydriver · 24-08-2015 05:29PM

OK, so we can see the kerb.. where's the wall?

seamus · 24-08-2015 05:30PM

Actually having run along the grand canal a lot beside those low walls (the one on grove road where she died is less than half a metre), I've often thought how easy it would be to end up in the canal if you tripped on a dodgy paving stone or bumped into someone.

At the same time however, most of the opposite side is completely unguarded so it would be even easier to fall in there.

As the backwards man says, it's the coroner's job to list factors in the death, and the fact that there was a low wall around a body of water is a relevant fact.

In this case, it seems to have been just a series of unfortunate circumstances. She fell in at a time when no-one saw her (odd that nobody saw her on a busy road at 12:30am on a Saturday morning, but not impossible), and she couldn't swim. If the wall actually had been 1m high, she may have been OK.

Bit tasteless to make jokes about "dipsos" or criticising her because she was drunk. Jaysus knows I've been utterly trollied around that part of the city plenty of times in my life, no doubt came close to falling in a couple of times unbeknownst to myself. Anyone in Dublin can probably say the same.

Twould be a shame to have higher walls or railings along the canal though, it's a lovely public amenity.

NachoBusiness · 24-08-2015 05:31PM

super_furry wrote: »

If a wall is small enough for someone to trip over, sober or otherwise, it’s a danger.

Sure there are lots of things the same height as that wall that you can trip over.

The Dublin Bike holding device machine thingamajigs for example.

Someone could easily come along, trip on one and then stumble into the liffey here.

Turtwig · 24-08-2015 05:32PM

This thread is a complete over reaction generated strawman that sadly is becoming all too common in this web age. Instead of looking to ridicule something instead, stop, and think if your understanding the story correctly first before producing ridiculous back slapping hyperbole.

The coroner has to establish all factors relevant in an individuals death. They did that. They then requested that people responsibile for these factors determine whether these factors can or should be reduced. An analogy would be an aviation accident. Once the cause is discovered it might not actually be realistic to prevent the risk of such causes further that doesn't mean the initial investigators shouldn't pose the question to those with knowledge and responsibilities to make that call. The coroner like those initial investigators is just doing the job as required.

seamus · 24-08-2015 05:33PM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Someone could easily come along, trip on one and then stumble into the liffey here.

That would have to be a pretty big stumble. And thats a dock, so tidal, but it doesn't flow like a river does.

In many ways, low walls beside bodies of water are more dangerous than no walls at all.

suicide_circus · 24-08-2015 05:33PM

Grand so. Build a nice big ugly wall, ruin the tranquil aesthetic which has been a source of calm recreation to countless many for over 200 years

endacl · 24-08-2015 05:34PM

nokia69 wrote: »

its sad that the woman died but the coroner is wrong in this case

we can't be building walls along every canal or river

We certainly can't. What we could do, at a fraction of the cost, is attach floats to every drunk person. Perhaps give them a whistle too. To attract attention when they sober up and need to be fished out?

kneemos · 24-08-2015 05:36PM

Concrete over the bastard and run the Lewis on it.

super_furry · 24-08-2015 05:37PM

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Sure there are lots of things the same height as that wall that you can trip over.

The Dublin Bike holding device machine thingamajigs for example.

Someone could easily come along, trip on one and then stumble into the liffey here.

There's a massive distance there. They'd have to do a couple of theatrical rolls on the way down to make it to the water.

super_furry · 24-08-2015 05:37PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Grand so. Build a nice big ugly wall, ruin the tranquil aesthetic which has been a source of calm recreation to countless many for over 200 years

If it means saving one life, it's worth it.

knird evol · 24-08-2015 05:39PM

super_furry wrote: »

If a wall is small enough for someone to trip over, sober or otherwise, it’s a danger.

Even if there was a ditch in front of the wall? With cotton wool bedding in the ditch?

VinLieger · 24-08-2015 05:39PM

It's called Darwinism

B0jangles · 24-08-2015 05:39PM

conorh91 wrote: »

There's no way that part of the canal wall is 1 metre high from the pavement.

I have often walked along there in the ice, and had to cross the street, because if I tripped, I'd have fallen in. It is noticeably low. I'd be wary of letting kids ride bikes along it. It is similarly low further up as you approach Leeson Street.

This would be a fairly cheap construction job. As someone familiar with this road, I'd be in favour of it.

Here's an image of the wall in question. As you cans see it's very low. A man died by falling into the same spot on Christmas morning, 2008 or 2009.

That is not a wall, that is a curb with notions about itself.

endacl · 24-08-2015 05:40PM

kneemos wrote: »

Concrete over the bastard and run the Lewis on it.

The Daniel Day, the Hamilton, or the Lennox?

suicide_circus · 24-08-2015 05:40PM

super_furry wrote: »

If it means saving one life, it's worth it.

How far down that road are you willing to go. We could be saving millions of lives....but it would mean changing our society pretty profoundly. We could ban booze for instance, which was also a major contributing factor in this case.

conorh91 · 24-08-2015 05:41PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Grand so. Build a nice big ugly wall, ruin the tranquil aesthetic which has been a source of calm recreation to countless many for over 200 years

Of course not. But either have a wall, or don't. At the moment, you might as well run a bale of twine along the kerb, so easy is it to trip into.

The other side of the canal has no wall, and is an unlikely safety hazard because it has a grass margin, a graduated slope, and vegetation leading into a pool of water that is initially fairly shallow, or at least, easy to pull out from.

This present 'wall' (is it even a wall? it is the height of a cement block) offers no safety at all, and actually impedes someone trying to pull themselves out of the water.

JONJO THE MISER · 24-08-2015 05:42PM

That's a joke of a wall, you would nearly fall into that if you shoved pass someone.

Woman (with drink in her) trips over wall and drowns in canal - coroner's reaction

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