This article is from page 15 of the 2010-02-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
A WOMAN has told a court she feared she would be killed after a car came towards her zig-zagging over and back on the road, along the En- nis bypass.
Arising out of the incident, Kath- leen McCarthy (29), of Acha Bhaile, Lahinch Road, Ennis, was charged with driving without due care and consideration, on November 19, 2008. She denied the charge.
Kathleen Gibbons, from Lisdoon- varna, told Ennis District Court on Friday that she was driving on the Ennis bypass, near the Claureen roundabout, on the date in question.
She said she was travelling at a speed of between 45 and 50 mph when she noticed a car coming to- wards her, zig-zagging over and back the road. “First of all I thought it was somebody doing wheelies. I hoped it would straighten up. I thought, ‘I’m going to be dead’,” she recalled.
She said the car moved onto her side of the road and crashed into the side of her car. As a result, Ms Gibbons’ passenger door flew open. The airbag burst and there was blue smoke for a few seconds. She said the incident has “severely damaged my confidence.”
Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client lost control of the steering wheel and spent several days in hospital after the crash. She received 21 stitches to the side of her head and suffered internal bleeding.
In a statement to gardai made some time after the accident, the accused said she did not know what had hap- pened.
“All of a sudden the steering wheel went free from me. I had no control,” she told gardai.
The court heard that the accused’s car was examined by the PSV in- spector and this found there were no defects with the steering wheel.
The solicitor said the accused was “driving carefully with all due care. There has to be an element of doubt. It was the middle of the day. It was highly unlikely she would be engag- ing in boy racing tactics.”
Judge Timothy Lucey said there may be another explanation for what had happened and said Ms McCa- rthy “may have had a blow out, but who can tell?”’
‘There is no question but the State have proved their case. There may be other explanations. It’s up to the de- fence to produce any evidence,” said the judge.
He convicted the defendant and fined her €250. He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.
He told the solicitor, “If what you are Saying is correct, you should ap- peal it but you’d want to get better proof, better evidence.”