Woman seriously injured in collision near Mountmellick
Emergency services attended the scene of the crash. File photo for illustration
A UKRAINIAN driver who caused a head-on crash in which a woman was seriously injured told gardaí that he was not used to driving on the left side of the road.
The collision on the N80 route near Mountmellick was outlined at Portlaoise District Court last Thursday. Amet Dzhanayev, whose address was given as Prince of Wales Hotel, Athlone, was convicted of dangerous driving at Nyra, Mountmellick on 30 January 2024.
The other driver, a middle-aged woman, gave evidence that she saw a blue car coming against her as she drove off a slip road, on the way from Mountmellick to Tullamore.
The car went straight across the road in front of her and crashed into the passenger side of her car, in a head-on collision.
Emergency services were called and she was taken to Tullamore hospital. She had three surgical procedures on her neck and was out of work for five months.
Her car was a write-off and she was still awaiting a surgical procedure on her back.
The defendant was not injured in the crash.
Garda Burke testified that the woman’s car was facing in the opposite direction to which she was travelling when he attended the accident scene on the N80 at 8.45am. Both drivers passed roadside breath tests.
The garda said he took a statement from Mr Dzhanayev at the Athlone hotel on 10 March last, with a Ukrainian interpreter provided by gardaí.
In the statement, the 38-year-old said he was driving a friend’s car and was not familiar with the road. He was not used to driving on the left in Ireland, as drivers use the right lane in Ukraine.
Just before the crash, he was approaching a right-hand junction and would usually have right of way at such a junction in Ukraine.
He said in the statement: ‘This time, I forgot that I was driving on the left and had to give way to oncoming traffic.’
The court heard that the defendant was not in court because he had to return to Ukraine due to a family emergency.
He had motor insurance and the crash was dealt with by the insurers.
Imposing a €1,000 fine and four-year disqualification for dangerous driving, Judge Andrew Cody criticised Mr Dzhanayev for not attending the court hearing and giving an apology to the injured woman.
The judge said: “You can’t just skip back to Ukraine and not make any effort to apologise to the injured party or turn up in court.”
