Driver who struck an elderly pedestrian is fined for careless driving

By Eimear Dodd

A driver has been fined for striking a woman in her 90s while she was crossing a road in north Dublin.

John McDonagh (63) was turning right at the junction of Drumcondra Road Lower and Botanic Road towards the city centre when he struck the 95-year-old pedestrian on the afternoon on January 24, 2023.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard evidence that the woman believed she had a green light to cross the road, but the sequencing of the traffic lights suggest this wasn’t the case.

After the light for the right turning filter lane turned green, McDonagh, of Hillcrest Park, Ballygall, Dublin 11, started to turn, but didn’t see the woman.

An investigating garda agreed with David Staunton BL, defending, that traffic stops on both sides of the road when the green light comes on for this filter lane and the victim may have assumed it was a green man.

McDonagh didn’t see her crossing the road in time after he started his turn, and stopped immediately afterwards. The court heard.

He remained at the scene, all of his documents were in order and there were no issues when he was breathalysed.

The victim suffered a number of fractures and other injuries, and spent 13 weeks in hospital. The court was told by the investigating garda that she has recovered well, but requires the use of a mobility walker and that her independence has been affected.

A victim impact statement was handed to the court, but not read aloud.

McDonagh pleaded to the summary offence of careless driving.  He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since this incident.

The garda agreed with Mr Staunton that his client was fully co-operative, fully insured and that it was getting dark when the accident occurred.

Mr Staunton told the court his client has a long work history and has never been before the courts before. He said McDonagh acknowledges he should have seen the victim and asked the court to take into account all of the circumstances when constructing a sentence.

Judge Martin Nolan said this was an “unfortunate incident” in which the victim suffered serious injuries.

The judge said the court considered McDonagh’s culpability was low in the circumstances of the case as he was driving slowly and wasn’t expecting to see the woman who thought incorrectly that she had a green light.

He imposed a fine of €1,000 with six months to pay.