Man was ‘steering’ but not ‘driving’, court told

A MAN who denied ‘driving’ a car but admitted ‘steering’ the vehicle found that this was no defence to a motor insurance prosecution.

Garda Sean Whelan gave evidence against Daniel Connors from Lurgoe, Killenaule, Tipperary, at the District Court in Wexford.

The case arose from the garda’s observations at the Europort in Rosslare in March of last year.

His evidence was that he saw Connors driving a VW Passat in the departure area at the port.

The defendant admitted that he was behind the wheel but insisted he could not have been driving the Volkswagen as it had to be towed.

Under cross-examination, he accepted that he had been steering the vehicle.

Judge Gerard Haughton ruled that Connors was, in fact, driving and required insurance cover.

The matter was postponed to allow the carry out of checks into the accused motorist’s driving history.