Deceased
Rebecca Anne Penfold Jolly
Demographics
20y, female
Date of death
2010-01-11
Finding date
2012-05-10
Cause of death
head and vertebrae injuries from falling tree branch
AI-generated summary
Rebecca Jolly, aged 20, died from head and vertebral injuries when a 7-metre limb from a large grey box tree dropped onto her car on Greenhill Road, Adelaide in January 2010. The tree was on council-managed roadside verge. In August 2009, four months prior, the adjacent smaller tree had suffered major structural failure. The coroner found that the City of Burnside Council failed to apply its own stated tree management protocols at that time. Council policy required proactive assessment of trees adjacent to ones with major failures, particularly when elevated work platforms were available on-site. The council had staff and equipment present in August 2009 but conducted only a focused inspection of the failed branch rather than assessing the entire subject tree, including the northern leader overhanging the busy road. Had proper assessment occurred using the available hydralift, decay in the fork between the two main leaders would likely have been identified, prompting removal of the at-risk northern branch. The coroner found the death preventable.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
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