Provisional driver fined as woman sustains serious head injuries
A provisional license driver who was in collision with a cyclist, leaving her with serious head injuries, has been fined €1,500 by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today.
Alan Smart (aged 28) of The Clositers, Mount Tallant Avenue, Harold’s Cross and Ms Geraldine Murtagh’s bicycle were in collision after he overtook a car on the inside bus lane, because he thought the driver was travelling too slowly.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious harm to Ms Murtagh at Harold’s Cross road on December 31, 2004. Other offences, including speeding and driving with a provisional license without accompaniment by a qualified driver, were taken into consideration.
Judge Delahunt gave him six months to pay the fine in lieu of a three-month prison sentence, and disqualified him from driving for two years.
She accepted that he co-operated with gardaí after going to the station voluntarily. She was also satisfied that his remorse was genuine and that his driving had been at the lower range of dangerous driving.
Garda Noel Melvin told Mr Paul Greene BL, prosecuting, that skid marks indicated Smart had been driving at 47 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone and if he had been travelling within the speed limit he would have been able to brake in time before hitting Ms Murtagh.
Gda Melvin said Smart had taken the day off work because of a head cold and after getting medication at a pharmacy his intention was to do a ‘u-turn’ at Harold’s Cross to return home.
He told gardaí he thought the car in front of him was driving too slow and he overtook it in the bus lane. He didn’t see Ms Murtagh at first and applied the brakes when he did but collided with the back of her bicycle, throwing her off it and leaving her with serious injuries.
Gda Melvin agreed with Mr Green that Ms Murtagh was unconscious for a period after fracturing the base of her skull and bruising her brain. She also fractured bones in her face and her upper arm.
A victim impact report, compiled with the help of her sister, said Ms Murtagh’s family were concerned that she was no longer able to maintain an independent life, that her attention span had deteriorated, that her speech was impaired and that her ability to process thoughts had slowed down.
Gda Melvin said Ms Murtagh did have a long standing psychiatric condition, but her injuries meant she was still undergoing physiotherapy and she had to attend at the National Rehabilitation Centre.
He said that Smart was working in the building trade at the time, that he had no previous convictions and had not come to the attention of the gardaí since.
Mr Luigi Rea BL, defending, told Judge Delahunt that the accident was caused by "a moment of ill attention and bad driving" by his client and it marked a slip from his previous good character which "led to these sad consequences".
He said Smart wished to apologise to his victim and her family and accepted that he had caused serious injuries to a woman who was innocently cycling.
Mr Rea asked Judge Delahunt to take into account that his client didn’t flee the scene, had co-operated with gardaí and was unlikely to come before the courts again.
