A driver who collided head-on with another vehicle on his morning commute has had his conviction reduced to careless driving on appeal, with a judge finding that the collision “could not have been intended” and was a “momentary lapse of concentration”.
Fergus Clarke (28) told gardai that he was doing breathing techniques before he “slid into the next lane” and crashed into another road user, causing the other driver a laceration to the head and a hand fracture.
Clarke, with an address at Fortfield Park, Terenure, Dublin 6 West, was convicted in the District Court of dangerous driving contrary to section 53(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961. He was convicted, disqualified from driving for two years and given a €500 fine.
He later lodged an appeal against his conviction.
Garda Aisling Hawkes told the court that on May 17, 2024 she arrived at the scene on the Monkstown Road, Blackrock and observed two vehicles with significant damage.
She said that she spoke to both drivers to ascertain details and she observed that the driver of one vehicle had a laceration from the middle to the back of his head. The garda said that there was a lot of blood and that the injured party was pale and disorientated.
Garda Hawkes said that she spoke to Clarke, who was unsure what happened and said he was doing breathing techniques in his car on his way to work.
The garda said dashcam footage showed Clarke’s car travelling over the white broken line on the road and head-on colliding with the injured party’s vehicle.
She said Clarke said he didn’t know what happened, that he was doing breathing techniques and the next minute he slid into the next lane. She said she confirmed that the appellant was not on his mobile phone.
Garda Hawkes said that the injured party sustained bruises to his body and a fracture to his left hand. She said that the windscreen popped out of the injured party’s car and she believed this caused the laceration.
Defence counsel for Clarke, David Staunton BL, said that his client was found negative for intoxicants, was fully insured and had not come to the attention of gardai before or after the incident.
He said that the collision happened “within a second” and it was not a situation where Clarke was on the wrong side of the road for a prolonged period.
Mr Staunton said that the dashcam footage was unpleasant to look at, but that the court needs to divorce that in the first instance.
He said that the case was devoid of the usual aggravated factors, such as a prolonged course of bad driving, speed, a high-powered vehicle, intoxicants, a dangerous defect of the vehicle, or disqualification or no insurance.
Mr Staunton said that his client is a fully qualified electrician who has never been in trouble before and was on the way to work on the morning in question.
He said that he lost his concentration for the reasons outlined and that he “lived to regret” it.
Counsel said that what had happened was a mistake and that Clarke was not trying to overtake or get ahead. He asked the court to exercise its discretion to bring the case to a conviction for careless driving.
Counsel for the prosecution said that the “evidence speaks for itself” and that there was significant damage and injuries sustained.
Judge Christopher Callan noted the considerable impact, with both cars damaged, as well as the injuries sustained by the other driver.
He said that while the dashcam footage was distressing to watch and that a listener could obviously hear the distress of the driver, it evidently showed two vehicles coming towards each other “not unduly fast”.
The judge said that “suddenly” Clarke swerved across into the path of the other car, which had very serious consequences for the other driver.
Judge Callan said that the court must differentiate between the outcome and be objective on the manner and nature of driving.
He said he was satisfied to reduce the conviction to that of careless driving under section 52 of the legislation.
Judge Callan said that he would use his discretion not to disqualify Clarke from driving, noting that he has no previous convictions, did not come to the attention of gardai and was in gainful employment.
The judge said that this incident “could not have been intended by him” and that it was a momentary lapse of concentration.
He said that for all those reasons, he would allow the appeal to reduce the dangerous driving conviction to that of careless driving and set aside the disqualification.
He ordered that Clarke should pay a sum of €500 to the National Rehabilitation centre.
Mr Staunton handed up a receipt on Friday to confirm that this had been paid. Judge Callan also decided to reduce the €500 fine to that of €100.