'We all make mistakes,' judge tells Cork man convicted of careless driving

The court heard that the accused was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and required a medical certificate every three years to enable him to drive

Clonakilty District Court was also told he had previously driven for 40 years without incident. File picture: Dan Linehan

A Cork motorist who pleaded guilty to careless driving had a momentary lapse of concentration, according to his solicitor.

Clonakilty District Court was also told he had previously driven for 40 years without incident.

The district court was shown mobile phone video footage of the incident recorded by a concerned member of the public on the R599 road between Clonakilty and Dunmanway at Bealad East on March 26, 2025.

The court heard that 64-year-old Kevin Connolly of The Meadows, Kilbarry, Dunmanway was driving north from Clonakilty towards Dunmanway when his driving caused concern for members of the public who were following him in another car at 5.45pm.

Video footage shown to the court showed Connolly’s car veering across the central white line to the wrong side of the road, at one point allowing only a small space for an oncoming cyclist to get past. The video then shows Connolly’s car return to the correct side of the road before crossing the white line again and then turning off down a side road.

Defence solicitor, Conrad Murphy, said Connolly had been driving for 40 years without issue and had never come to garda attention before. He said Connolly had suffered a momentary lapse of concentration and apologised for what had happened. 

He said his client was pleading guilty and “can’t really explain” what happened.

The court heard that Connolly was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and required a medical certificate every three years to enable him to drive. He had been passed as fit to drive in September 2025 after the incident.

After viewing the video, Judge Joanne Carroll said Connolly was “quite a bit over” the white line and said she would have to convict him of careless driving. 

She said Connolly came before the court with an unblemished record and an incident of this type “can happen to all of us, we all make mistakes”. Connolly was fined €120 and given four months to pay the fine.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.