The case in which a women admitted driving a car through a junction and straight into another car was dismissed this week after the defence raised sufficient doubt about the visibility of the junction signage and road markings at the junction.
On July 14 2009 at around 11pm, Josephine Maheady and her partner Thomas McNulty were driving in a Ford Mondeo at Farragh, Killala, when they were struck by a silver Volkswagen Passat, which was driven by Aoife Forde, Ballycastle.
The injured parties’ car was spun around on the wrong side of the road, and Forde’s car ended up turned over in an embankment. There were two other women in the car with Forde. All involved in the accident were brought to Mayo General Hospital.
Garda Adrian O’Shaughnessy, who examined the scene, told the court that there were overgrown hedges near the road signs and that there was poor visibility.
Forde gave a statement in which she said that as she drove in the area of Farragh at a speed of around 60km an hour, she did not see the sign for the junction and did not realise that she was at a junction.
John Gordon, solicitor for Forde, said there have been a number of accidents at this dangerous junction and that that the council cleared the overgrowth after the accident and also applied fresh paint on the road markings, which was evident from photos taken of the location after the incident.
Inspector Joe Doherty said that he conceded that the junction’s white lines looked freshly painted and that evidence from the garda said there was overgrowth near the junction sign.
The careless driving charge was dismissed by Judge Mary Devins.
