A motorist acquitted of dangerous driving causing the death of an oncoming driver is facing a retrial after his acquittal was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
The man, who cannot be identified as he is not yet technically before the courts, was charged with dangerous driving causing death of another motorist in Munster five years ago.
The Court of Appeal heard that the man’s car crossed 1.7m into the oncoming lane of traffic before colliding with the deceased’s car on a straight stretch of road.
He had not been drinking or speeding. His mobile phone had not been used for more than 30 minutes prior to the incident. There was no evidence of any medical issue, no evidence of any infirmities in the vehicle, no evidence that any environmental factor contributed to the incident and no evidence that his vehicle went out of control.
Insufficient
The trial judge directed the jury to acquit the then accused on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of dangerous driving causing death. There was no alternative charge such as careless driving causing death.
The Director of Public Prosecutions successfully appealed the man’s acquittal on a point of law under Section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2010 last week and the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial ton Thursday.
Counsel for the DPP, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, told the court that the act of driving dangerously had been defined by the courts as “driving in a manner which a reasonably prudent person would recognise involved a direct, immediate and serious risk to the public”.
Ms Lawlor said the jury ought to have been given the opportunity to assess whether driving 1.7m into oncoming traffic was a dangerous act. She said the jury could have assessed where on the spectrum of dangerous versus carelessness it lay. Instead, she submitted that the trial judge engaged in a “personal analysis” on whether a charge of careless driving causing death was more appropriate.
Quashing the acquittal, Mr Justice John Edwards said there was no explanation for why the driver crossed from his side of the road at the point he did.
However, he said the circumstances were open to inference that he became distracted or was momentarily inattentive, such that he did not realise he was drifting over to the incorrect side of the road.
Mr Justice Edwards said the man was travelling along the N20, the main Cork to Limerick road, which is a national primary route and, by definition, a busy road most of the time. He said the matter ought to have been allowed go to the jury for deliberation.