A haulage company allowed one of its drivers to take out an 18-tonne lorry it knew to be defective which later crashed head-on into a car, a court heard yesterday. Yesterday the driver was fined £75 after he admitted driving without due consideration.
Judge Conal Gibbons struck out charges of dangerous and careless driving because he said the real people who were the cause of the accident were not before the court.
These were the directors of A. and T. Patton, the haulage firm the driver, Tony Collier (28), Glenwood Road, Raheny, Dublin, worked for.
Dublin District Court heard that shortly before the accident Collier had told the company's fitter that to stop the lorry he had to steer to the right while applying the brakes. Subsequent tests by garda∅ showed the brakes on one wheel were not working, and steering was also defective.
Despite these obvious problems, the company allowed Collier to drive, and on July 27th last year the lorry hit a car driven by Mr Martin and Mrs Theresa Doyle on Collinstown Lane.
Mrs Doyle was trapped in the car for a short time and believed it was about to go on fire because of the smell from a burst airbag. She was rescued by firefighters and suffered broken shin and thigh bones.
Judge Gibbons said she was lucky to be alive in what was a horrific accident.
Collier made a statement saying he brought the problems with the braking and steering of the lorry to his employer's attention but was told to go ahead and drive it. He also admitted he had passed his driving test just six weeks before the accident.
Judge Gibbons said the fact that A. and T. Patton sacked Collier on the day of the accident indicated just what kind of a company it was.