Airborne car caught on dashcam
After viewing the dashcam footage in court, Judge Geraldine Carthy said she was satisfied to convict
A MAN whose car became airborne during a dramatic crash witnessed by another motorist was disqualified from driving for three years at Carlow District Court recently.
Brian Mooney (34) appeared before the court following a single-vehicle collision at Powerstown, Carlow on 19 September 2024.
A witness told the court he was driving home from work around 7pm when he saw an accident happen directly in front of him.
“As I was approaching (a turn in the road), a silver car shot through. I got an awful fright; it went straight across the road, rolled and seemed to hit something solid before landing back on four wheels in the same direction as me.”
The witness, who provided dashcam footage of the incident, said he thought he had witnessed someone being killed, adding that the car had been airborne.
Garda Murphy gave evidence that when she arrived at the scene, emergency services were already present. She spoke to Mr Mooney, who had “a small cut above his eye,” and observed a box of Budweiser beer in the car with “some bottles open and some closed”.
The garda noted the defendant had a “smell of alcohol on his breath” and “was in shock”.
Mr Mooney was taken to St Luke’s Hospital for treatment. He provided insurance details at the scene, but not a driver’s licence.
Defending solicitor Joe Farrell challenged what he claimed were discrepancies in the garda report, including that the reference to “alcohol on breath” was missing from the statement and that the exact location described in the report differed slightly from what was recorded in the garda notebook.
Mr Farrell described the incident as “an error in judgement” by his client and noted that while Mr Mooney had lost his licence, he was working.
After viewing the dashcam footage in court, Judge Geraldine Carthy said she was satisfied to convict. She disqualified Mr Mooney of 90 Hennessy’s Road, Waterford from driving for three years and imposed a fine of €750, with 90 days to pay, telling Mr Farrell: “Your client is lucky.”
