Finding into death of Matthew Forde
Deceased
Matthew Thomas Forde
Demographics
29y, male
Date of death
2008-01-29
Finding date
2010-01-05
Cause of death
Head injury
AI-generated summary
Matthew Forde, 29, died from unsurvivable closed head injuries after being struck by a reversing VicRoads maintenance vehicle on the Princes Highway near Altona North, Victoria. On 28 January 2008, a surfboard fell from Mr Forde's vehicle roof rack. He and his partner stopped in the emergency lane to retrieve it. At the same time, VicRoads employee Leonard Grass was reversing his road maintenance van to collect the surfboard. Despite watching his rear-view mirror, Mr Grass did not see Mr Forde and struck him at high speed (30-40 kph according to witnesses). Mr Forde was resuscitated and transported to The Alfred Hospital, but CT scans revealed unsurvivable head injuries. He died on 29 January 2008. The coroner found that Mr Grass's van lacked an externally audible reversing alarm and that his hearing impairment may have prevented him hearing the reversing sensor. The coroner recommended that VicRoads routinely fit external reversing alarms to road maintenance vehicles.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Surfboard fell from vehicle roof rack onto roadway
- Vehicle stopped in emergency lane to retrieve surfboard
- VicRoads maintenance vehicle reversing without external audible alarm
- Driver's hearing impairment potentially affecting response to reversing sensor
- Driver did not see pedestrian while reversing vehicle
- High speed of reversing vehicle (30-40 kph according to witnesses)
Coroner's recommendations
- VicRoads consider routinely fitting their road maintenance vehicles with an externally audible alarm which operates when the vehicle is reversing
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