A YOUNG mother whose daughter was left in a wheelchair after a crash in which an elderly woman was killed has told a court how she thought she and her two children were going to die when their car caught fire after the head-on collision.
Sonia Nic Gairbheith was driving to her grandparents’ home when her car was struck by a vehicle that veered across the road into her path in Co Donegal.
Giving evidence in the trial of William Barr (80), whose wife Maggie (83) died in the crash, Ms Nic Gairbheith said she did not have time to avoid his car.
“It happened in a second or two seconds. I didn’t have time to turn the steering wheel. I remember the impact and the bang and everything going white.
“There were flames coming out of the bonnet. They were getting higher and higher and I expected not to get out of the car and that this was it,” said Ms Nic Gairbheith, an occupational therapist from Gaoth Dobhair.
Mr Barr has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing serious injury on May 27th, 2008.
The court heard how Mr Barr veered over to the wrong side of the road as he was travelling out of the village of Dunlewey.
His Volkswagen Jetta hit Ms Nic Gairbheith’s Mazda, causing it to go backwards into a ditch. Maggie Barr died in the incident, and Ms Nic Gairbheith’s daughter Nóirín (4) is now in a wheelchair after her spinal cord was severed.
A statement to gardaí on behalf of Mr Barr, Hall Road, Middletown, Derrybeg, was read to the court. He described how he was driving from Letterkenny at about 4.30pm after attending a number of appointments.
He said he remembered driving through the village of Dunlewey and past a local pub. However, he said the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.
He suffered a number of injuries including two fractures and internal bleeding, and spent 18 days recovering at Letterkenny General Hospital.
Garda technical experts Sgt John McDaid and Sgt Frank Lavin attended the scene and gave evidence to the court.
They described how there were no brake marks on the road from Mr Barr’s car, and that the 2007 Volkswagen Jetta was in good mechanical order and had no defects.
The trial continues today.