Statute of Limitations - Summons

Hello,

I'd be grateful to hear from any members who can assist. Story as follows:

I was driving along the N17 between Galway and Claregalway at about 10.15 pm in July of last year, when I was hit from behind. The car that hit me was then subsequently hit from behind. I had overtaken the driver of car 2 (the one who hit me) and had travelled a couple of hundred metres in front of this driver (who incidentally had full headlights on, having failed to dip when I overtook) and had slowed down on my approach to the 50kph speedlimit outside Claregalway when I was hit by the cars behind me. The Gardai were called to the scene despite the lack of injury and insurance information was exchanged between the three involved parties.

The Guard in question then came back to me, having taken information from the other two drivers (and passengers) and intimated that I was responsible for the accident, and was I accepting liability. I said no, that I had done nothing wrong, but was instead hit from behind, and he said that I had slammed on my brakes (which I hadn't). Out of curiousity I asked what would have been the case if something had ran out across the road in front of me and his answer was that nothing HAD run out in front of me. I feel that he used his uniform inappropriately and attempted to intimidate me into accepting liability for an accident that was clearly not my fault. I subsequently received two phone calls from the same officer, again insidiously attempting to intimidate me into accepting liability.

Thereafter I was asked to provide a statement of events at my local Garda station, which I did, and was reassured by my local Gardai that "that'll be the end of that. It'll go no further."

But that was not the end of that..... I have now been advised that a summons will be coming "in January" charging me with careless driving!

I am aware from reading previous threads that there is a time limit of six months from the date of accident to issuance of summons, but wonder if there is any way for me to determine if in fact that summons was issued?

I am unnerved and distressed at this whole scenario and feel that I am being victimised by the Gardai. It appears the "gentleman" in the third car involved, i.e., the car that ran into the car that hit me, is a member of the Garda forces, or at the least a new recruit, and I feel that this is an attempt to display, or wield the power of a uniform unethically.

Can anyone advise if there is any way of finding out if the sumons was issued and is there an expiry date (time limit) for service of the summons? Thanks in advance

Magical Ma said:

But that was not the end of that..... I have now been advised that a summons will be coming "in January" charging me with careless driving!

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Who advised you of this?

It seems strange to me that you are been pressurised to accept liability as it is commonplace for insurance policies to state that in the event of an accident the insured has no right to accept liability - in the case of my own insurance company it would actually invalidate my insurance.

Have you been paid by the insurance company of the driver that hit you?

I was under the impression that the person behind (in a pile up) is responsible for the damage to the car in front. Should he/she not be driving at a speed that would allow him/her to brake in time? If the driver in the third car was a member of the Guardai ....... he/she should have pulled you over earlier. Retrospective blame smacks of cronyism.

Moved from Askaboutlaw to Car & motoring related issues which is where questions of this nature are discussed.


MagicMa,
What does your solicitor advise?
What does your insurance company advise?
aj

TreeTiger said:

...It seems strange to me that you are been pressurised to accept liability as it is commonplace for insurance policies to state that in the event of an accident the insured has no right to accept liability - in the case of my own insurance company it would actually invalidate my insurance.

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I had a remarkably similar experience when a member of the Gardai, whom I had summoned to the scene of an accident where I believed I was the innocent victim of someone else's incredibly bad driving, put me under intense pressure to accept liability for the damage to the other driver's car. Thankfully there were no personal injuries.

I refused and stuck to my (true) version of events. Having taken insurance details and other information at the scene, I dropped the other party a text mesage, asking for her plan to repair my car, made a full disclosure to my own insurers and got a repair estimate from the main dealer (car less than 6 months old).

Within 24 hours I had a commitment from the other party to meet all costs provided I didn't process a claim through her insurance. The total bill was about 5k, paid in full.

The relationship between the Garda and the other party? - first cousins! An absolute abuse of use of perceived power.

the gardai have 12 months to apply for the summonse.write to the local superintendent asking for a copy of all the statements. there is usually a fee involved.dont make a statement,dont admit anything,obtain a solicitor and one who is regularly involved in rta offences. go to you local district court and u will see who is good.

Tree Tiger thanks for your input. No, I have not been paid by ANY insurance company. Car 2's insurance carrier is refusing to pay out, saying there is ongoing investigation of the matter, etc., etc., although they did agree the damage estimate upon submission by their assessor. I have had to pay for the repairs to my car from my own pocket.

the Gardai have 6 months to apply for the summons as this is not a hybrid offence (cannot be tried by indictment). 12 months only applies to offences that can, on indictment, recieve a sentence greater than 5 years. Theft being a common example.

however please note that this is 6 months to apply! It is in the hands of the court service how long it takes to actually issue the summons and the court date.

you are not entitled to copies of any statements as this is a criminal prosecution against you, you or your solicitor will have to ask the judge in court for whats called a 'Gary Doyle' order to recieve them.

You can only ask the Superintendent for copies, as mentioned above, when the criminal case has finished and the current fee is 25 euro per statement plus an admin fee. In fact I believe only insurance companies or those possible liable can ask for them.

as for solicitors in court, this is a summery offence which usually only involves a fine. I believe careless driving has a maximum of 800 euro on first offence and possible 6 months in prison but lets be honest, thats not happening unless your constantly in court.

so a solicitor even if he gets you off will cost more than the actual punishment and there is no guarantee that he will, in fact he probable wont as no doubt the Garda will be using the other 2 drivers and passengers against you. In theory its 800 euro fine + your legal costs. your best bet is pleading not guilty and hoping that the witnesses dont turn up on the hearing date.

So it up to you how to proceed but thats the in and out of the situation. As for why your being blamed, possible the multiple other drivers/witnesses saying that you are. Afterall if your driving along and someone driving faster hits you or if you stop for lights, etc its a no brainer. they are wrong.

However if you overtake at high speed then cut your speed dramatically you have interfered with the other vehicles progression and are therefore in the wrong as you did not allow sufficient time and space for the other car to react. I do however wonder why you overtook if you then had to slow down within a short distance as for the collision to have happened the car you overtook has to have been progressing at a speed equal or greater than 50.

Im not making a judgement on what did or did not take place merely pointing out how it might look to the Gardai and/or a judge. 2 drivers + passengers statements V your refusal to make a statement means the file sent to the DPP is one sided and can only take into consideration what is being said against you and not for you, its not the Gardai that decide who gets brought to court if anyone but the DPP (Or in cases like this a superior officer not involved in the investigation on the DPP's behalf).

Personally I see no reason for the Garda to take a vested interest as he could just as easily recommend no prosecution and let the insurance companies trash it out.

Karlitosway said:

Personally I see no reason for the Garda to take a vested interest as he could just as easily recommend no prosecution and let the insurance companies trash it out.

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I think it's a good thing the gardai got involved - the sooner we adopt Zero Tollerance to careless & dangerous driving the less likelihood we will have the type of accident we have had on Saturday near Borris in Ossary. I'm not saying the OP was driving without due care but it certainly looks like the other witnesses passed some blame onto him when making statements to the garda.

There are lots of people out there willing to take chances knowing the chances of being caught are slim. While I don't have the stats I'd guess the highest number of traffic offences followed up by the gardai is speeding yet anyone who does any bit of driving will have witnessed poor/careless/dangerous driving regularly.