This article is from page 11 of the 2013-12-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
A NORTH Clare man has been ordered fix the defects in his car after a court heard it made the same loud noise as a jet plane.
At Ennis District Court on Friday, Fiachra Roche (21), with an address at Rinamona, Kilnaboy, pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle which was not fitted with an exhaust silencer or other device suitable and sufficient for reducing to a reasonable level, the noise caused by the escape of exhaust gases from the engine.
The offence is contrary to the Road Traffic (construction equipment and use of vehicle regulations) Act 1963 as amended
Garda Rosaleen O’Connor of Ennis Garda Station told the court she stopped Mr Roche’s car on the Limerick Road in Ennis on April 23, 2013.
She said the car did not have a silencer fitted to the exhaust which the court heard emitted a decibel level of 115.
Asked by Judge Patrick Durcan to explain further how loud the noise was, Garda O’Connor said it was equivalent to the sound made by a jet flyover at 1100 feet.
Defence solicitor Angela Byrne said her client was “extremely surprised” to learn his car was responsible for such a loud noise.
Ms Byrne said her client had not yet fitted a silencer due to the cost but intended doing so in the coming weeks.
Judge Durcan said it appeared there was “jet flying around Clare.”
He said he was putting the case off to next week to allow Mr Roche time to remedy the defects with his car. Addressing Mr Roche, Judge Durcan said;
“You have to get your finger out of your mouth, I want action.”
He described the offence as ‘very irritating behaviour”.
“I’m not going to have this young lad zooming around County Clare, waking the graveyards, waking the dead”, he added. Judge Durcan said the car would go through an “NCT outside the court next week.”
He told Mr Roche that if the defects are not remedied he would have to “save money for a bicycle or a pair of runners.”
The case was adjourned to Ennis District Court to December 12.