Laois taxi driver before court for alleged careless driving injuring cyclist
Man appears before Portlaoise District Court on alleged careless driving offence and case was dismissed
A Laois taxi driver accused of careless driving that resulted in the injury of a cyclist contested his case before Portlaoise District Court.
Jacob Oriahi (61) of 36 Collegeview, Mountmellick was accused of careless driving on December 22, 2024, where a road traffic incident saw a cyclist injured.
The first witness in the case was Mr Baha Baha (66), the injured party.
While the witness was questioned by Sergeant JJ Kirby, the court heard that on the night of 22 December 2024, the witness said that he finished work before two o’clock in the morning.
Before leaving his workplace, he had a cup of coffee and checked the lights on his bicycle. He recalled that it was a wet night.
The witness explained that on the night of the incident, he wore boots, a helmet, a leather jacket and a high visibility vest. He stated that he had one light on the back of his bike, and two lights to the front.
“I cycled from the An Post warehouse on the Mountrath road, it was normal like every time. I was cycling home over the bridge and I see myself knocked with light in my eyes, I knew I broke my leg, it was smashed,” the witness said.
The witness said he remembers being on the ground, and something hitting the back of the bike.
The witness said he recognised the accused, that he could remember gardaí and other vehicles, but he could see ‘nothing’ as he was face down on the ground.
“Mr Baha was brought by ambulance to Tullamore,” Sgt Kirby told the court.
He asked whether the witness could recall a car. The witness then pointed to the accused in the courtroom, stating ‘this man hit me’. He explained that he knew the accused as his taxi driver, who had sometimes driven him home from work.
Defending solicitor Mr Phillip Meagher argued that the accused states that the witness had no lights on at the time of the accident, and that neither the witness nor the attending garda made reference to the presence of lights in the initial garda statement.
The witness agreed with Mr Meagher that there are no lights on the road. Mr Meagher said that if the witness’s lights were on, the accused would have seen him.
The court then heard from Garda Craig Shortt, who responded to the scene on the night in question.
Garda Shortt said he was called to a road traffic collision in the Cloncourse area, arriving at the scene around 2:06am. The garda said that he noticed a cyclist and a 2011 Toyota Prius.
“I spoke to Mr Jacob Oriahi of Collegeview Mountmellick, who confirmed that he was driving straight and heard a loud bang,” Garda Shortt told the court.
“His high visibility vest was covered partially by a rucksack on his back.”
Garda Shortt took a photograph of the bike, stating that the bike was fitted with a rear red lamp, and it was illuminated. He said that the witness had a front light that was lit, and that the rear wheel of his bike had a heavy indent.
Garda Shortt said that he conducted a roadside breath test on the accused, which the accused passed. The garda then carried out enquiries and generated a summons for careless driving under Section 52 of the Road Traffic Act.
Garda Shortt stated that there were two passengers within the taxi as the accused had been running a service at the time, however the passengers were no longer at the scene when he arrived.
Garda Shortt said that when he took the photograph of the bicycle, the lights were on. He said that he could not recall the type of helmet the injured party was wearing.
“The bike was definitely struck, I took a statement from them both. Mr Baha was conscious on the scene and in a lot of pain. When emergency services arrived, they immediately gave him the green whistle,” Garda Shortt said.
Garda Shortt agreed with Mr Meagher that in the photo the garda took of the bicycle, it is propped up against the metal barrier to the side of the road, with neither light illuminated.
Mr Meagher argued that the bike should have been photographed in the position it was found on the road. Garda Shortt denied responsibility for moving the bike.
Mr Meagher revealed that the state had failed to submit a preliminary application to amend or add to the section 52 simpliciter for the summons. He added that as this was not submitted and a six month rule applies, the summons was one day out of date, and was not made in time.
“We were in court on November 6 and no application was made to add or amend the simpliciter- the summons is clearly a day out,” Mr Meagher said.
Mr Meagher also added that throughout the State’s presentation of their case, there was no evidence of careless driving.
Judge Fay expressed that she had great sympathy for Mr Baha, but she noted that the summons was clearly one day out of date. Judge Fay also noted that despite the accident, the State provided no evidence of careless driving on behalf of the accused.
“The fact that the accident occurred doesn’t mean that there was careless driving,” she said.
Sgt Kirby argued that there were issues with language barriers, and that the witness had explained how he was knocked off his bike.
“We gave clear evidence, he was well lit up and gave evidence that he was knocked off his bike by a vehicle while cycling home from work. Mr Oriahi has a case to answer for,” Sgt Kirby said.
The case was dismissed.