Firm fined after tragic Rosscarbery incident

A CONSTRUCTION company has been convicted and fined €500 for allowing one of its drivers to drive uninsured. 

The driver was involved in an incident that saw a Rosscarbery woman suffer serious injuries when she was struck by iron bars from a loose load on the truck he was driving.

At a sitting of Clonakilty District Court this week, Claramore Construction of Millstreet, Cork pleaded guilty to the charge of allowing one of their drivers to drive uninsured. 

The court was told that on April 16th 2016 an employee was driving in Rosscarbery when an unsecured load caused bars to fall off, which seriously injured the woman walking along the causeway.

Grahame Copplestone, solicitor, representing Claramore, told Judge James McNulty that a civil case in the High Court was already dealt with in July, and that his clients are now facing the prospect of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) pursuing them.

Mr Copplestone said there had been some confusion relating to the type of licence needed for pulling a trailer and that most people thought that a class B licence allowed a person to tow a trailer, as long as it was below 3,500kg in weight, but that is not the case. Therefore, the driver was not insured at the time of the incident.

Mr Copplestone admitted that it is the responsibility of his clients to know if all their drivers have the right licence to drive for them.

‘The driver was stopped before on a few occasions and nothing happened, and he believed he was driving legitimately,’ said Mr Copplestone.

He added that the injured party had suffered ‘fairly horrific injuries’ and has been fully compensated.

Judge McNulty convicted and fined Claramore Construction Ltd €500 on the no insurance charge and gave the company 30 days to pay the fine.

The incident saw 59-year-old mother of three Frances O’Driscoll of Burgatia, Rosscarbery suffer serious injuries when she was struck by the iron bars. 

She has since settled her High Court case for damages.