This article is from page 18 of the 2008-01-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
A DECISION by a motorist to over- take on acontinuous white line would have led to a fatality were it not for the vigilance of another driver who pulled in to create space.
That was the view expressed by a garda, during evidence in a court case in Kilkee last week.
Darren Grant (22), of Marian Es- tate, Kilkee, pleaded guilty to dan- gerous driving, at Lisdeen, Kilkee, on August 7, 2007.
Garda Charlie Killeen told Kilkee District Court that he came on the scene on the night in question.
He said that Grant, who was travel- ling in the direction of Kilkee, was overtaking a car on a continuous white line. The car he was overtak- ing managed to manoeuvre.
“It happened on a hill crest where the road was veering to the left, on a continuous white line,’ said Gda Ona
‘Had the other car not been able to manoeuvre, we would have been
dealing with a head on collision and we would probably be dealing with a fatality,’ said the garda.
Defending solicitor Eugene O’ Kelly said his client was an inexperienced driver. He said he “misjudged” the speed at which the car in front of him was travelling. He was afraid he was going to hit the rear of that car and “took the chance of overtaking,” said Mr O’Kelly.
He said as he commenced the ma- noeuvre, the other car came around the bend in the opposite direction.
He accepted that there could have been “a very Serious accident” were it not for the ability of the car in front of Grant’s car to pull in and create space.
“TV’d ask you not to deal with this case on what might have happened. There were no fatalities. ’’d ask you to deal with it on the basis of how he was driving,’ said the solicitor.
Judge Joseph Mangan disqualified Grant from driving for a year and fined him €1,000. He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.