Drove with blown tyre and broken rim while under the influence
Carlow Court House
A WOMAN who drove with a blown tyre and broken rim while under the influence of intoxicants was disqualified from driving for four years at Carlow District Court.
Tara Scanlon (29) 6 Graigowen, Tullow, Co Carlow was charged with driving a dangerously defective vehicle, dangerous driving and driving under the influence of an intoxicant arising from an incident on 3 June 2025 on Thomas Traynor Road, Tullowbeg, Carlow.
In CCTV footage shown to the court, Ms Scanlon’s Volkswagen Golf can be seen pulling up to a mechanic’s yard, approximately an hour before the premises opened. The footage recorded the sound of the car scraping metal against the road as the rim of the completely deflated wheel rolled along the road.
At one point, the vehicle was parked in the middle of a junction, blocking traffic for seven minutes.
At 8.45am, the owner arrived at his premises and opened the gate to allow Ms Scanlon’s vehicle to drive into the yard.
Giving evidence at the hearing, he said he called gardaí when he judged Ms Scanlon to be under the influence and noticed a child was in the car, along with another individual. He told the court it was his opinion that the “extensive” damage to the tyre and rim could only have been caused by an impact, not just by driving after the tyre was blown.
Gardaí arrived at the scene 30 minutes later. Garda Hennessey said he spoke with the defendant, who produced a provisional license and stated she was the owner of the car. He found her to be “incoherent and very difficult to deal with” and asked Ms Scanlon to take a breathalyser test, which she failed.
In subsequent blood specimens taken from the defendant, there was 68ml of alcohol per 100ml of blood and the presence of Alprazolam was identified.
He said there was a mark on the road where Ms Scanlon had driven.
Solicitor Chris Hogan, representing Ms Scanlon, asked garda Hennessy to confirm that the child was not in the car initially when she arrived at the premises. He confirmed that another party arrived at the scene and dropped the child off before 8.45am.
“She is going through a difficulty at the moment in particular,” said Mr Hogan.
Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted the defendant and imposed a mandatory disqualification of four years for driving while intoxicated, fined Ms Scanlon €500 for the dangerous driving charge and disqualified her for two years, to run concurrently, and took into consideration the driving a defective vehicle charge.
