Cork man accused of careless driving has his case dismissed

The case against a motorist charged with careless driving following a report to the online traffic-watch system was dismissed at a recent sitting of Macroom District Court.

Inspector Anthony Harrington told the court 19-year-old Flynn O’Riordan, of The Hall, Ballymakeera, Co Cork, was charged with one count of careless driving in relation to an alleged incident at Clonfadda, Macroom, Co Cork, on October 26, 2024.

Witness Sinead Drew said she was walking at Lower Codrum, Clonfadda, just after 1pm, when she heard a car revving loudly at a nearby junction. Ms Drew said the car sounded like it was doing “donuts” and “spinning around fast”.

Ms Drew said she walked toward the junction and a red car driven by a male with dark hair sped past her. She said the car was “flying it” at “top speed”, adding that the road was narrow and if the car had encountered a walker they could have been killed.

She told the court that in her opinion the car was travelling far too fast, though she could not say what speed it was going or what the speed limit was. Ms Drew said she memorised the car’s registration number and reported the incident to gardaí, as she was “really cross about it”.

Flynn O’Riordan was identified as the owner of a red BWW 316 and gave a voluntary caution statement to gardaí. He said he could not be sure if he was on the road at the time, but must have been if Ms Drew had taken his licence plate number.

He told the court that he had a friend who lived nearby and he often travelled the road. O’Riordan said he would never have been doing ‘donuts’ in the middle of the day at a busy junction, and that the car, which he had since sold, had a loud exhaust that may have accounted for the noise.

He said he would not drive at more than 60km/h on the road in question.

The defence solicitor, Sean Cahill, said the accusation that O’Riordan was doing ‘donuts’ “just doesn’t come in to it”, as there was no evidence this was the case. He said that Ms Drew had admitted she had no idea how fast O’Riordan was driving and there was no evidence of his speed.

Judge Joanne Carroll said she could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that O’Riordan was driving without due care and attention and she dismissed the charge against him. She said O’Riordan needed to look after his licence and note what the witness had said.

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