Judge uses extra powers to force ban over baby seats
A JUDGE has clamped down on motorists who fail to strap children safely into their cars, even using his extra powers to ban them from the road.
Judge Patrick Durcan told driver Dan Donovan that he ‘had endangered a child’ by not having the four-year-old properly strapped.
And after hearing that Mr Donovan had two previous convictions for similar offences, the judge banned him from driving for six months and also landed the Co. Galway man with a €750 fine.
He adjourned until tomorrow imposing a driving ban on a mother from Ennis, Co. Clare, for the same offence.
Not having children properly restrained carries five penalty points on conviction – but only three if the penalty is paid up front.
However, if cases do get to court, a judge can use their discretion and impose ancillary orders, such as driving bans.
In putting Mr Donovan, of Crowe Street, Gort, off the road for not having the child properly restrained, Judge Durcan said Mr Donovan had ‘behaved in the most contemptuous fashion towards the driving laws and to the children he has responsibility for’.
He said Mr Donovan ‘had endangered a child’ by his actions and didn’t even bother turning up in court.
Garda Lisa McDonagh said that at the time of the incident at Clarecastle on March 14, a four-year-old was on a passenger’s lap in the passenger seat. Garda McDonagh said she had issued a Fixed Charge Penalty Notice but it had not been paid.
Judge Durcan also said he would ban a mother, Helen Mongan of Church Drive, Clarecastle, for one month and fined her €250 after hearing that a two-year-old was unrestrained in her vehicle. Mrs Mongan has appealed her driving ban.
Judge Durcan said that having a child unrestrained in a car can result in catastrophic injuries for the child concerned if there is an accident.
And Corporate Affairs Manager with the AA, Conor Faughnan said yesterday: ‘We shouldn’t play down the seriousness of the offence. It is bloody dangerous and it is against the law for a reason.’
He advised anyone who does drive without buckling up children to google crash test footage to see what happens, saying ‘it would terrify you’.
He added: ‘Even in a relatively minor accident, a child could suffer life-changing injuries and if they were restrained, they would not be injured at all.’
‘Having said all of that, we need laws and punishments to be balanced, commensurate and consistent… and the punishment in these cases are going to feel very hard.’
He added: ‘These punishments appear to be at the higher end of the spectrum, relative to the offence.’
In cases of drivers parking in disabled parking spots, Judge Durcan also uses his discretion in imposing ancillary orders banning those motorists from driving.