A young Buncrana man rear-ended the car in front of him after an unknown third party had placed traffic cones in the middle of the road, in an apparent prank-gone-wrong last year.
Jack Bradley, of 1 An Crannla, Buncrana, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving contrary to Section 52 of the Road Traffic Act when he appeared before Buncrana District Court.
Garda Inspector Sean McDaid outlined the evidence against the 20-year-old motorist.
He said Garda Keith Conlon was on patrol when he was alerted to a road traffic collision at Railway Road, Buncrana, at 11.45pm on the night of Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Jack Bradley had been travelling in his vehicle at the time when he collided with the back of the vehicle in front of him, which had been stopped at a hazard.
Gardai attended the scene and CCTV footage was obtained, while Inspector McDaid said Mr Bradley has no previous convictions.
Defending the case, Frank Dorrian described the crash as “fairly unremarkable in terms of the impact” – and he said his client came a cropper due to the actions of someone else entirely.
“What happened was,” the solicitor explained. “As one drives into Buncrana, there is a hotel on the left and then a licensed premises, and on the right of the bridge, there’s a petrol station.”
“Somebody had taken it upon themselves to put cones out in the road, as some kind of joke or prank. The vehicle in front of my client came to a sudden halt as a result of encountering this obstacle. Then my client, after he had applied the brake, tapped into the back of her.”
Mr Dorrian said there was no suggestion of speed or anything untoward on behalf of Mr Bradley.
“As is the case, as you go back in a succession of vehicles stopping, the available time to stop is decreased. So if you have seven or eight vehicles in a row doing this, it’s almost inevitable that vehicles six, seven, or eight are going to crash into each other.”
“Here, there were only two vehicles involved. There’s no complaint about his speed, nor any complaint about his driving at all, other than the fact that he ran into the back of this lady under circumstances where the hazard was caused by some third party. It was completely unexpected.”
The Buncrana solicitor then asked whether the court “might take a certain view” and drop the charge altogether in the circumstances.
However, Judge Eiteain Cunningham said her hands were tied in that regard.
“I can’t do anything, Mr Dorrian. There’s a plea here . . . unless the State is willing to withdraw the matter, which it is not.”
Judge Cunningham imposed a conviction and a €200 fine, but she did not impose a driving ban, having heard the evidence.
“I won’t disqualify, given no previous and the special circumstances given,” she ruled.