Most appeals on dangerous driving fail

Only one in 20 motorists who appeal against a dangerous driving conviction are successful, figures released to The Irish Timesunder the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) indicate.

Data from the Courts Services shows just 31 of the 492 appeals lodged against a dangerous driving conviction in 2005 were allowed.

Of the remaining appeals, 186 resulted in the conviction being confirmed by the courts, while a further 193 appeals resulted in the original conviction being varied.

Appeals in this category resulted in the terms of the original conviction being changed. In some instances this can result in the penalties being increased.

Legal sources have told The Irish Timesthat one of the more common outcomes of the varying of such convictions is an increase in the fine, while the time a motorist must serve off the road is reduced.

Last year District Court judge John F Neilan sparked a controversy when he handed down fines to two motorists caught speeding in excess of 190km/h but did not disqualify them from driving because he felt it was likely the decision could be overturned at Circuit Court level.

The case, involving Tommy Gorman (34), Milltownpass, Co Westmeath, and Alberto Rizzini (23), Slanemore, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, attracted widespread attention after a videotape of the two men speeding was shown on RTÉ news.

Chairman of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) Gay Byrne said at the time that the judge's sentence was too lenient.

After the case Judge Neilan said he would review all his cases involving careless and dangerous driving that were appealed to a higher court in 2006.

When contacted by The Irish Timesfor the results of this review a spokesman for the judge said his own personal review would not be made public.

In the wake of the controversy the Garda Commissioner appointed a chief superintendent to investigate the release of the video of the two men speeding to RTÉ.

The Irish Timesunderstands that this report has now been completed, but the Garda Press Office was unable to say whether any action has been taken against any members of the force.

Under the Road Traffic Act 2006, the penalties for dangerous driving were doubled from one to two years for a first offence, and two to four years for subsequent offences and a fine of up to €5,000.

Other figures released by the Courts Service under the FoI request show that a far higher proportion of appeals against convictions for careless driving were successful.

Just under 19 per cent, or one in five, of the 181 appeals against a careless driving conviction were successful. A further 73 convictions were varied.

According to the Garda Síochána Annual Report there were 7,294 prosecutions for dangerous driving and careless driving in 2005. In 2005 there were 1,869 convictions for dangerous driving while in the same year there were 1,402 convictions for careless driving.