Driver not responsible for wrong size tyres detected after crash

THE wrong size of tyres turned the blue Volkswagen Golf of Adam Bates (25), Newtown, Kilmore Quay into a dangerously defective vehicle, the District Court was told.

However, Judge Gerard Haughton ruled that Bates could not have known about the problem as the tyres were already on the car when he bought it.

The Volkswagen came to the attention of Garda Leisha Fahey when she investigated a two-car collision at Ballyfinogue in Drinagh in June of 2016. She referred both cars involved to garda vehicle inspector Stuart O’Sullivan, since retired.

He came to court to explain that the tyres, though in good condition, were the wrong size and should have been 15 millimetres wider.

This was dangerous because they had to be over-inflated, reducing the amount of rubber in contact with the road. The prosecution accepted that Bates was not responsible for the accident which left his passenger seriously injured.

The vehicle inspector agreed that everything else on the car appeared perfect.

The problem had not been detected when it was brought for NCT testing, stressed defending solicitor Pat McCarthy. The accused told the court he bought the Golf, with the tyres already fitted, the previous December.

Judge Gerard Haughton translated the 15 mm to half an inch and dismissed the summons.