A provisional-licence driver who knocked down a cyclist leaving her with serious head injuries has been fined €1,500 by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Alan Smart (28), The Cloisters, Mount Tallant Avenue, Harold's Cross, Dublin, crashed into Geraldine Murtagh's bicycle after he overtook a car on the inside bus lane because he thought the driver was travelling too slow.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious harm to Ms Murtagh at Harold's Cross Road, Dublin, on December 31st, 2004. Other offences, including speeding and driving with a provisional licence without accompaniment by a qualified driver, were taken into consideration.
Judge Delahunt gave him six months to pay the fine in lieu of a three-month prison sentence and disqualified him from driving for two years. She accepted that he co-operated with gardaí after going to the station voluntarily.
She was also satisfied that his remorse was genuine and that his driving had been at the lower range of dangerous driving.
Garda Noel Melvin told Paul Greene, prosecuting, that skid marks indicated Smart had been driving at 47mph in a 30mph zone and if he had been travelling within the speed limit he would have been able to brake in time.
Garda Melvin said Smart had taken the day off work because of a head cold and was returning home from a pharmacy.
Smart told gardaí he thought the car in front of him was driving too slow and he overtook it in the bus lane. He didn't see Ms Murtagh at first and applied the brakes when he did, but collided with the back of her bicycle.
Garda Melvin agreed with Mr Greene that Ms Murtagh was unconscious for a period after fracturing the base of her skull and bruising her brain. She also fractured bones in her face and her upper arm.
A victim impact report said Ms Murtagh's family were concerned that she was no longer able to maintain an independent life. Luigi Rea, defending, said the accident was caused by "a moment of ill attention and bad driving" and marked a slip from his previous good character. He said Smart wished to apologise to his victim and her family.