A judge's decision to strike out a dangerous driving charge against a 19-year-old man caught doing 197km/h (122 miles/h), on the basis that it should have been a speeding offence, was condemned last night as "unbelievable".
Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said: "Do you have to kill someone before it's dangerous driving?"
She was commenting following the decision of Judge Derek McVeigh to strike out the dangerous driving charge against Paul McAteer, Lismonaghan, Letterkenny, at Donegal District Court this week.
He had been caught travelling at 197km/h at Keadue, Barnesmore in a BMW car with four passengers at 10.40pm on March 12th this year.
He was charged with dangerous driving, but Judge McVeigh said it was not the right offence.
Garda John Sweeney told the court: "I've been eight years in the traffic corps and I've seen speed on the road. I thought it was dangerous driving." However, Judge McVeigh said it was simply a speed factor and that nobody had to jump out of Mr McAteer's way. He dismissed the charge.
This case follows a Mullingar District Court ruling in September when a judge handed down fines of €2,000 to two motorists caught speeding in excess of 190km/h (118 miles/h).
Ms Mitchell said: "I am the last person to criticise the judiciary but this defies belief and it really makes you wonder why we spend our time in the Dáil passing legislation to improve road safety."
Minister of State for Transport Pat "The Cope" Gallagher, who is from Donegal, said he did not know the facts of the case and declined to comment as he believed it was a matter for the judiciary and the Garda.
A spokesman for the Road Safety Authority said the body did not have the facts of this specific case and did not want to comment on a specific case "until we see what the Director of Public Prosecutions and the gardaí decide".
The spokesman added: "We would take this opportunity to point out the Road Safety Authority's message that excessive or inappropriate speed is one of the biggest contributory factors to death and serious injury on our roads."
