An 86-year-old woman who struck a cyclist and caused him to suffer life-changing injuries has been given a fully suspended prison sentence at Tralee Circuit Court.
Eight year driving ban ‘effectively a driving ban for life’ after causing life-changing injuries to cyclists
Matilda O’Donnell had pleaded guilty to careless driving causing serious bodily harm after she struck Ian Gilvarry while he was out cycling on October 20th, 2018.
Mr Gilvarry suffered extremely serious, life-long injuries and now believes that his life expectancy has been reduced as a result of what happened. The accused woman was 80 at the time and had attended Mass the morning of the incident.
She was attempting to make a right run on the ‘Cork Line Road’ and Mr Gilvarry was cycling from the Abbeyfeale-Duagh side, towards Listowel.
The court heard that an examination of the scene by the then PSV Inspector, Garda Jim O’Brien, noted that Ms O’Donnell remained at the scene. He determined that she was not driving fast and alcohol was not a factor.
The court also heard that a bright sun shining directly at the driver that morning may have been a factor in the collision.
In his Victim Impact Statement read to the court, Mr Gilvarry told how he sustained life-changing injuries which included traumatic brain injury, multiple lacerations and multiple internal injuries.
He spent six weeks in hospital, including time in the ICU and was ventilated. He told Judge Ronan Munro that he has spent years recovering and has attended over 350 medical appointments while he continues to live with confusion and isolation.
The collision has cost Mr Gilvarry mentally, physically, emotionally and financially.
He recalled a particularly difficult time in his recovery when his daughter was getting married in 2019. He
said that instead of walking his daughter up the aisle, it was his daughter who had to guide him so that they could walk the aisle together.
He feels a burden on his close family and said: “Some days I despair.”
“The court needs to understand that I’m not who I used to be,” he said.
Giving his judgment in the case last Friday, Judge Munro told Mr Gilvarry that “the sentence I will impose will in no way address what you’ve been through.”
He said from the evidence available, it appeared Ms O’Donnell cut the corner while turning right, and the collision occurred on her incorrect side of the road. The cyclist was completely blameless, he said.
It was a very significant impact, he said, which caused the cyclist to lose consciousness, the bike was mangled and Mr Gilvarry suffered injuries to his head, spine and ribs.
He noted that Mr Gilvarry was in his fifties at the time and was a fit and active man.
“This was an accident with horrific consequences,” Judge Munro said. However, he said that the case was a charge of careless driving – not the more serious charge of dangerous driving, and placed it at the lower end in terms of culpability.
Judge Munro set the headline sentence at 15 months. Given Ms O’Donnell’s good record, her plea of guilty and her extremely low risk of reoffending, he reduced the sentence to 13 months and suspended it entirely for a period of 13 months.
Ms O’Donnell, who is currently not driving, was disqualified from driving for a period of eight years which Judge Munro said was effectively a driving ban for life.
This article was provided compliments of the Kerry’s Eye newspaper, where this article was first published.
Why always the sun excuse? When I drive, if the sun is that bright I take care. If I can’t see, I don’t proceed, or slow down until I can see. Visors are there for a reason.
Would Ian be able to bring a civil case against the offender, or at the very least put a claim against her motor insurance? It beggars belief that while we see regular payouts relating to minor incidents such as slipping on a footpath, or in a supermarket, we don’t seem to want to bring civil cases against those who do significant personal damage to another individual through the means of a motor vehicle – either as pedestrians or as mobility users.
If such cases became commonplace with appropriate media reportage, then perhaps people might think twice about some of the shtty driving behaviours that put pedestrians and active mobility users at risk daily in this country. This case, and another one reported on the radio in recent days, where a driver got a 2 year ban and €250 fine, is utterly laughable as a deterrent.
Whilst cars have to undergo an annual pedantic NCT, we bizarrely give people a driving license for life. Also we have people driving around with pre -1964 licenses who never had to do a driving test. The overwhelming causation factors in road traffic collisions are driver-related according to RSA data, so why are the RSA not pushing to get rid of the license for life?
Absolutely agreed – when you renew your licence, you should have to sit a new test, if only to make sure that your vision hasn’t deteriorated with time, and to see whether or not you know how to drive safely.
Eyesight tests are required in the event of deteriorating eyesight (e.g. macular degeneration), on recommendation of a driver’s GP. That said, I know from someone working in the eyesight industry that it is not unusual for someone to say, after failing an eyesight test that they will continue to drive.
If only we had an integrated medical database that would flag such fails to e.g. insurance companies as well as Gardai. We have so many loopholes and ways to get around enforcement here that it is a joke.