Nenagh motorist fined over two-car collision in which man suffered nine broken ribs

The backseat passenger of a vehicle involved in a two-car collision was left with nine broken ribs, Nenagh District Court was told.

Dennis Bistrovs of 4 Boland Place, Nenagh pleaded not guilty to careless driving at Summerhill, Nenagh, on December 13, 2019.

The driver of the second vehicle Aisling Downes, Clash, Toomevara, had also been charged with the same offence but the court dismissed the charges against her.

Garda Joe Blake said that he was on duty on December 13, 2019 when he was called to the scene of a two-vehicle collision at Summerhill.

Both drivers passed breath tests and had all documents in order.

Mr Bistrovs had three passengers in his car and Ms Downes was driving her mother Clare, and father William, who was in the rear seat.

Mr Downes was trapped in the vehicle and had to be cut out and brought to hospital as a precaution.

Garda Blake said that Mr Bistrovs was travelling up Summerhill while Ms Downes had been attempting to turn on to Summerhill from Church Road.

Ms Downes made a statement in which she said that she and her parents had been at a concert in St Mary of the Rosary Church that night, which had ended.

She came to the junction of Church Road and Summerhill and looked both ways, letting two vehicles pass that were coming from the Borrisokane direction.

She was crossing the centre white line when a car came at her at speed straddling the centre of the road.

The other driver attempted to avoid a collision but hit her rear driver side, causing her car to spin.

Witness Niall Deverey told the court that he was driving down Summerhill when Mr Bistrovs passed him and his speed caught his attention.

He hadn’t witnessed the accident but had observed the cars spin in his rearview mirror.

Under cross-examination by Kenny Kerins, BL, for Ms Downes, he said that it was his view that Mr Bistrovs had been “powering up”.

He told solicitor Johnny Spencer, for Mr Bistrovs , that in his view the speed was excessive and Mr Bistrovs had been “accelerating aggressively”.

Another witness, Diana O’Neill told the court she was sitting in her parked car at Summerhill when she saw a car approach at excessive speed.

She told Mr Spencer Mr Bistrovs was “definitely above the speed limit”.

She would not accept that parked cars would have obstructed his vision.

Clare Downes told the court that the road had been clear and the “next thing I knew we were on the other side of the road facing the cinema”.

William Downes said that as he was in the rear seat all he could see were lights coming at him.

“I was trapped and had to be cut out. I had nine broken ribs and spent five days in hospital,” he said.

The court was shown CCTV of the collision after which Mr Kerins said that there was no evidence of wrongdoing on behalf of Ms Downes.

Mr Spencer made a similar submission on his client’s behalf.

However, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath said that two independent witnesses “with no axe to grind” had given evidence and she was satisfied Mr Bistrovs had been travelling at excessive speed.

She dismissed the charge against Ms Downes and convicted Mr Bistrovs.

Judge MacGrath fined Mr Bistrovs €500 and disqualified him from driving for two years.

Recognizance were set in his own bond of €250.