Kilkenny motorist convicted of careless driving

A man convicted of careless driving is lucky the state did not insist he was charged with dangerous driving, Kilkenny District Court has heard.

Judge Geraldine Carthy told a defendant that had she the jurisdiction she would not have accepted the lesser charge.

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She was speaking following evidence in the case against Kamil Panek, 10 Maudlin Court, Thomastown.

Evidence was given that on July 30, 2021, a garda was travelling to work, in his own vehicle, on the road from Callan to Kilkenny.

The garda observed a vehicle ahead of him overtake four other vehicles on a stretch of road with a single white line, on an upward incline.

The vehicle struggled to complete the manoeuvre before a van, coming from the opposite direction, passed.

The van flashed its lights at the car and vehicles had to slow to let it back into the lane.

A short distance further along the road, at Cuffesgrange, the vehicle again overtook two other vehicles on the continuous white line.

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Other vehicles were forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

The garda contacted the garda station and a patrol car was dispatched to the area.

A second motorist, who witnessed the overtaking, had also contacted the garda station.

Mr Panek was stopped by gardaí.

Solicitor Chris Hogan said his client accepted his driving was poor on the day. He had no previous convictions or penalty points.

Mr Panek is unfit to work at the moment but intends to go back to employment as a delivery driver, the solicitor said.

When asked by Judge Carthy why his client was driving in that manner, Mr Hogan said ‘no particular reason’.

The judge noted Mr Panek’s guilty plea. She said not only did she take the actions of the accused into account but also other road users.

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Mr Panek, the judge said, was fortunate the state had accepted his plea to the lesser charge of careless driving.

Had she the jurisdiction, Judge Carthy said, she would not have accepted the lesser charge in place of dangerous driving charges.

“What I have heard is quite frightening. It was only the luck of God you didn’t crash.”

The judge told the defendant that he would be disqualified from driving because otherwise he could get into a vehicle after leaving the court and do the very same again.

“That driving is completely unacceptable. I don’t think you understand that,” Judge Carthy addressed the defendant.

Mr Panek was convicted of careless driving and fined €1,000. He was also disqualified from driving for six months.

The second charge was taken into consideration.