Jury clears Achill man of careless driving charge

Collision had taken place outside well-known Westport filling station

AN Achill man was found not guilty by a jury of careless driving causing serious harm to a driver following a collision outside a filling station in Westport.
Joe Moran of Ards, Currane, Achill, was charged following a serious accident outside the Topaz filling station (Corrib Oil) on the N5 Castlebar Road at Drumindoo, Westport, on January 5, 2016.
He pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the offence of careless driving causing serious bodily harm to Derek Fallon, of Oran, Co Roscommon. Mr Fallon suffered serious head injuries and several fractured ribs when his Audi car struck a wall after coming in contact with Mr Moran’s Honda car.
The jury, which was sitting in Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court, heard that Mr Moran was pulling out of the service station at 7.48am in the direction of Westport while Mr Fallon was travelling in the direction of Castlebar.
As Mr Moran pulled out, the passenger side of Mr Fallon’s car glanced the front of the Honda which resulted in the Audi turning sideways and sliding 42.7 metres before hitting a wall. The driver side of the car struck the wall, and Mr Fallon suffered serious injuries and was transferred to Mayo University Hospital.
He was later transferred to University Hospital Galway on January 8 before returning to Castlebar on January 26. He remained in hospital where he was treated for his injuries and was not discharged until March 25, 2016.
In his evidence to the court Mr Fallon was only able to say he was involved in an accident and had no recollection of anything from that day.

CCTV footage
The CCTV footage of the accident was shown to the jury. It showed that it was dark at the time and that traffic was heavy in the direction of Westport.
Sergeant Gabriel McLoughlin, who investigated the accident, said the road at the location was straight with a 730-metre clear view to Westport. He said the approximate location of the collision was at the centre line and the Honda car travelled for 1.5 seconds before the collision. Sgt McLoughlin said it would take between 3.4 and 4.2 seconds for the Honda to travel safely across the road and into the left hand carriageway.
Using CCTV footage from the garage, Sgt McLoughlin calculated that the Audi travelled 100m in 3.9 seconds and the average speed was 105 km per hour.
Under cross examination from Mr Diarmuid Connolly, counsel for Mr Moran, Sgt McLoughlin said Mr Moran was stopped for about 20 seconds before moving out onto the road and agreed he did not appear in any hurry.
Sgt McLoughlin also confirmed that the speed limit on the road was 100 km per hour, and that Mr Fallon was travelling in excess of the speed limit.
Dr Mark Jordan, a consultant engineer and expert in road traffic accidents, said that apart from the service station, the area was in darkness. He said a motorist when driving in darkness should be able to stop inside the illuminated area of the car’s lights and as Mr Fallon had his dipped lights on, he should have been driving at 50km per hour in order to stop.
In his closing remarks to the jury, Mr Patrick Reynolds, counsel for the prosecution said the accident had been devastating for Mr Fallon. He said that while Mr Moran’s actions were unintentional, he is obliged to drive with due care and attention.
After deliberating, the jury of eight women and four men found Mr Moran not guilty of the charge against him.