No evidence young Cork driver was 'flying it' down narrow road, court hears

A witness said the car sounded to her like it was doing 'donuts' and 'spinning around fast' in the road

Macroom court heard the witness say that in her opinion the car was travelling far too fast though she could not say what speed it was going at or what the speed limit was. File picture: Dan Linehan

The case against a young motorist charged with careless driving following a report to the online traffic watch reporting system was dismissed at a recent sitting of Macroom District Court.

Inspector Anthony Harrington told the court 19-year-old Flynn O’Riordan of The Hall, Ballymakeera, Co. Cork, was charged with one count of careless driving in relation to an alleged incident at Clonfadda, Macroom, Co. Cork, on October 26, 2024.

Witness Sinead Drew said she was walking at Lower Codrum, Clonfadda just after 1pm when she heard a car revving loudly at a nearby junction. Ms Drew said the car sounded to her like it was doing “donuts” and “spinning around fast” in the road. 

Ms Drew said she walked toward the junction and a red car driven by a male with dark hair sped past her. She said the car was “flying it” at “top speed” adding that the road was narrow and if the car had encountered a walker on the road further up they could have been killed. 

She told the court that in her opinion the car was travelling far too fast though she could not say what speed it was going at or what the speed limit was. Ms Drew said she memorised the car’s registration plate number and reported the incident to gardaí as she was “really cross about it”. 

Following the report Flynn O’Riordan was identified as the owner of a red BWW 316 and gave a voluntary caution statement to gardaí. He said he could not be sure if he was on the road at the time but must have been if Ms Drew had taken his licence plate number. 

He told the court that he had a friend who lived nearby and he often travelled the road. O’Riordan said he would never have been doing “donuts” in the middle of the day at a busy junction, and the car which he had since sold had a loud exhaust which he said may have accounted for the noise. 

He said he would not drive at more than 60km/h on the road in question.

Defence solicitor, Sean Cahill, said the accusation that O’Riordan was doing “donuts” “just doesn’t come into it” as there was no evidence this was the case. He said that regarding speed, Ms Drew had admitted she had no idea how fast O’Riordan was driving and there was no evidence of what speed he was driving at.

Judge Joanne Carroll said after listening to the evidence she could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that O’Riordan was driving without due care and attention and she dismissed the charge against him. She said O’Riordan needed to look after is licence and note what the witness had said.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme