DRIVER HAD AN UNEXPLAINED HEAD- ON CRASH
A driver retunring home from work in Sligo collided head- on with a an An Post van after veering to her incorrect side of the road near Tubbercurry, the local court heard.
As a result of a collision on the N17 at Castleoye on May 15th 2015, Breege Grady, Curry was summoned for careless driving.
The court heard she had no recollection of the accident and that medical assessments afterwards did not reveal any underlying epilepsy or cardiac condition.
Witnesses to the crash told Gardaí that Grady’s car had slowly veered to its incorrect side of the road as she drove home from work around 5pm.
Inspector Padraic Burke read a statement from one of the witnesses who described how traffic was heavy on the evening.
The witness described how a silver Lexus driven by the defendant slowly veered right and kept going “until all hell broke loose” colliding with an oncoming An Post van.
Witness also saw “a jeep in the air.” The female driver of the car was slumped with her eyes open and she had to be carried from her car which had developed a smell of burning.
The driver of the An Post van was conscious but he was in great pain and his legs were twisted.
Garda Trevor McNicholas told the court that there had been no allegation in relation to Grady’s driving up to that point.
Grady, in evidence, said she was travelling home to Curry from work and recalled that everything was normal.
The first she realised she was involved in an accident was when she recalled her head was on the airbag and she could hear a loud bang in the distance.
She remembered nothing of the accident, only its aftermath.
She was brought to Sligo Regional Hospital and was released that night.
She subsequently attended at her GP who made an appointment for her to see a neurologist and a number of tests were carried out.
Asked by Judge Kevin Kilrane what was her last memory before the accident was, the defendant replied that she didn’t have any particular memory of it.
Everything had felt normal that evening. She normally worked from 9am to 5pm or from 8am to 4pm as she was on flexi time.
It was a Friday evening. She told the Judge she had not been out late the previous night.
A number of medical reports were handed in to court by Mr Foy including one from the neurologist.
He concluded that it was more likely to have been a suspected unprovoked epileptic seizure.
There was no underlying epilepsy or cardiac condition.
Mr Foy pointed out that the defendant’s insurance company was dealing with all the claims arising out of the accident.
Inspector Burke said it was only a guess that the crash could have been caused by an unprovoked epileptic seizure.
He said there was no evidence that a medical issue had caused the driving.
Judge Kilrane said witnesses had seen the car gradually and without warning veering to its incorrect side of the road on a busy Friday evening.
He described the road as narrow and tortuous.
The driving may have been caused by falling asleep or some other malady of the brain, he said.
However, the Judge said he was satisfied that the defendant did not fall asleep.
“In the circumstances I have a doubt as to the cause of the accident and she must get the benefit of that,” said the Judge, dismissing the charge of careless driving against the defendant.