Mercedes driver forced truck onto grass verge on major Cork road

Macroom District Court was told the driver of the truck recorded the incident on dash cam and made a complaint to gardaí. Picture: Dan Linehan

A Mercedes driver forced a truck to take evasive action and pull on to a grass verge as it overtook another vehicle across a solid white line on a major road in Cork, the district court has heard.

Sergeant Trish O’Sullivan said the driver of the truck recorded the incident on dash cam and made a complaint to gardaí. The court was told the truck was travelling on the N22 Cork to Killarney Road at Lower Dunisky, Lissarda, Co Cork on September 9, 2024.

At 11.30pm, the truck driver saw a silver Mercedes car coming towards him from the opposite direction. The car pulled out to overtake another vehicle across the central white line and the truck was forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision going up onto the grass verge in the process.

The driver of the Mercedes was identified as Dariusz Sobol, aged 48, of The Orchard, Macroom, Co Cork. 

The court was told Sobol had four previous convictions. 

Defence solicitor Simon Kelly asked Judge Joanne Carroll to consider reducing the charge of dangerous driving to the lesser charge of careless driving, which does not carry a mandatory disqualification on conviction.

Mr Kelly said the Mercedes belonged to Sobol’s former partner and he needed to keep his licence as he was a tiler who had to drive a van for work. 

Judge Carroll said the incident was at “the very high end” of what could be considered careless driving, and Sobol was getting a careless driving conviction “by the skin of his teeth”. Sobol was convicted of careless driving, fined €500 and the fine was paid in court.

This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme