Another WTF story!!!

DonJose

I know when I applied for my provisional driving license I had to sit an eye exam. How the fukk does a man blind in one eye qualify for a driving license, the madness is he is disqualified for 8 years after knocking down and killing a pedestrian he didn't see, surely this guy should never be allowed to drive again... Madness :mad::mad::mad:

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LORRY driver with vision in only one eye who knocked down and killed a man at pedestrian traffic lights did not know they even existed, although he had travelled on that road for five months on a regular basis.
David Noonan (46), from Spittle, Ballylanders, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving at a pedestrian crossing adjacent to Dunnes Stores at Terryland Road, Galway, on February 24 last year, which caused the death of hotel receptionist John Taaffe (30).
Other traffic had stopped on the outside city-bound lane of the dual-carriageway when the lights went red at 7.10am but Noonan, who was driving a lorry laden with tyres on the inside lane, never stopped because he never saw the lights.
He hit Mr Taaffe, who was almost across the road, at 30mph.
The court heard that Noonan had been blind in his right eye from birth and that his line of vision was impaired on that side.
Mr Taaffe had been walking across the dual carriageway and had the right of way at the time. He was carried for 40 metres down the road by the lorry, which also ran over him.
Mr Taaffe, a native of Castleknock, Dublin, had made Galway his home after attending college there and was working as a receptionist at a local hotel.
He never regained full consciousness and died a few weeks later in Beaumont hospital.
Noonan received a 12-month suspended sentence along with an eight-year driving ban.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/partiallysighted-driver-did-not-see-lights-in-fatal-smash-2089618.html

Cookie_Monster

DonJose2 wrote: »

Noonan received a 12-month suspended sentence along with an eight-year driving ban.

I know killing someone with a vehicle is usually a lighter sentence than normal but that is crazy, 12 months?!?
He knew he was blind in one eye and was driving, there's nothing accidental about that.

And even if you can't fully see one side of the road how do you go 5 months with out noticing a set of lights, where are there lights with only a set on the right and not left?

EPM

I'd be of the thinking the person who gave him the license/keys to that truck should be there with him

MagicMarker

He had to have kept that a secret, no way could he have gotten a licence with one eye?

Berty

MagicMarker wrote: »

He had to have kept that a secret, no way could he have gotten a licence with one eye?

How would he pass the eye test?

"Ok, now cover your left eye and read the chart".

Hmmm

The medical report says nothing about being blind or partially blind.

http://www.rsa.ie/SERVICES/upload/File/Licensing/Medical%20Report%20Form.pdf

The eye sight report DOES refer to being blind in one eye

http://www.rsa.ie/SERVICES/upload/File/Licensing/Eyesight%20Report%20Form.pdf

Must have .6 or 6/10 vision in that eye.

Jip

Eh, I know someone who only has one eye who passed their test no problem, having one eye is not an issue. Your spatial alertness will suffer and you may be deemed as an overly cautious driver if people didn't know the issue but it's no reason to stop someone driving.

daymobrew

This is a horrible story - not only did the driver not see the ped lights, he didn't see that the other traffic was stopped!?!

We can all learn something here - you gotta keep watching traffic even when you have the right of way. If someone does not appear to be stopping then you need to get out of the way.

T-Maxx

Very sad indeed.

One thing that has always struck me funny though is the way pedestrians and motorists alike neglect to pay heed when operating in a right-of-way situation.

I always look before I cross/turn and have definitely avoided many an incident by doing so.

langdang

Jip wrote: »

it's no reason to stop someone driving.

... a micra or a matiz.
Driving a truck? Spatial awareness would be pretty critical in fairness!

Jip

Look at the amount of people who are involved in accidents every year involving HGVs etc, how many of them have only 1 eye ?

Hagar

Jip wrote: »

Look at the amount of people who are involved in accidents every year involving HGVs etc, how many of them have only 1 eye ?

The pirate taxi drivers?

langdang

Jip wrote: »

Look at the amount of people who are involved in accidents every year involving HGVs etc, how many of them have only 1 eye ?

Yup, tis difficult enough to keep an eye on everything even when you have 2!

Atomic Pineapple

T-Maxx wrote: »

Very sad indeed.

One thing that has always struck me funny though is the way pedestrians and motorists alike neglect to pay heed when operating in a right-of-way situation.

I always look before I cross/turn and have definitely avoided many an incident by doing so.

I have to agree with you there, you'd swear pedestrians were gods the way some of them stroll out onto the road without a care in the world.

Only the other day at a set of pedestrian lights a women jumped out in front of a car that was about to pull off after the lights had been flashing orange for a couple of seconds and started giving out to the driver

Jip

69 wrote: »

The pirate taxi drivers?

Aren't they all ? Or am I confusing them with gangsters ?

langdang

Yarrrr..

Hellrazer

Jip wrote: »

Eh, I know someone who only has one eye who passed their test no problem, having one eye is not an issue. Your spatial alertness will suffer and you may be deemed as an overly cautious driver if people didn't know the issue but it's no reason to stop someone driving.

Same here--My father can only see in one eye and he has a full licence and has also never been involved in even a minor tip.

He does have to adapt to having a lower field of vision on that side but as it says in the eye exam thing up there ^^^ "sufficient time must have passed in order to adapt"

The whole one eye thing is blown out of proportions in that newspaper article--that idiot failed to stop and used the one eye thing as an excuse is what it sounds like to me.

macplaxton

As far as having a licence goes, having one eye wouldn't be a problem for a non-vocational licence, but for a cat C or D it would be a no-no.

Encoder1970

Thta's mad, I would have thought one eye would be enough not to get a license.

robtri

even if the guy is blind in one eye... he could still see out the other eye...
he didnt see the traffic stopped... i wouldnt say it was because of his blind eye, i would say more becuse he wasnt paying attention....
even with one eye closed... you could see if traffic was stopped and see traffic lghts and what colour they where....

just a case of media hysteria.........

robtri

macplaxton wrote: »

As far as having a licence goes, having one eye wouldn't be a problem for a non-vocational licence, but for a cat C or D it would be a no-no.

yes cause small cars dont kill people when they hit them??

jhegarty

So he gets to drive again in 8 years.... dear god.

Jip

jhegarty wrote: »

So he gets to drive again in 8 years.... dear god.

Why ? People are being killed by drivers with 2 eyes all the time and they're seldom banned for that long.

Why dear god, has he been killing people on a regular basis due to one eye that we don't know about ?

neilthefunkeone

Friend of mine cant get a licence because he has no peripheral vision in his right eye..

Its mad if you stand shoulder to shoulder with him on his right he has no idea your there.. great for pranks!!!!

the_syco

DonJose2 wrote: »

killed a man at pedestrian traffic lights did not know they even existed, although he had travelled on that road for five months on a regular basis.

So, when he was approaching the lights from the other direction, he never saw them? What a load of bo||ox. He should get a lot more than one year!

jhegarty

Jip wrote: »

Why ? People are being killed by drivers with 2 eyes all the time and they're seldom banned for that long.

Why dear god, has he been killing people on a regular basis due to one eye that we don't know about ?

Because killing someone should be more than enough to never drive again. This guy is obviously not fit to be in charge of a vehicle.

I don't see anything in my post about eyes.

macplaxton

robtri wrote: »

yes cause small cars dont kill people when they hit them??

I don't make the rules up, the bods in Brussels do.

Anyway, FWIW, Form D.502:
PRESCRIBED STANDARDS FOR EYESIGHT

(a) The person shall have a visual acuity (with corrective lenses, where necessary) of not less than 0.5 (6/12) when using both eyes together.
(b) The horizontal field of vision of the person shall not be less than 150deg
(c) A person with sight in one eye shall have visual acuity (with corrective lenses where necessary) of not less than 0.6 (6/10), an unrestricted field of vision in the eye concerned and the monocular vision must have existed for sufficient time to allow adaptation.

Lisnagry

Would any of ye that are giving out about being blind in one eye give back your licence if it happened to yourself??

langdang

I'd hand back the truck licence pretty fast fast after mowing down a guy at a set of lights i didn't even see? Seems obvious to me?

robtri

macplaxton wrote: »

I don't make the rules up, the bods in Brussels do.

Anyway, FWIW, Form D.502:
PRESCRIBED STANDARDS FOR EYESIGHT

(a) The person shall have a visual acuity (with corrective lenses, where necessary) of not less than 0.5 (6/12) when using both eyes together.
(b) The horizontal field of vision of the person shall not be less than 150deg
(c) A person with sight in one eye shall have visual acuity (with corrective lenses where necessary) of not less than 0.6 (6/10), an unrestricted field of vision in the eye concerned and the monocular vision must have existed for sufficient time to allow adaptation.

and if the guy in story had had this conditon from birth.. i think that would satisfy the sufficent time for adaptation...

Jip

jhegarty wrote: »

Because killing someone should be more than enough to never drive again. This guy is obviously not fit to be in charge of a vehicle.

I don't see anything in my post about eyes.

So you believe anyone that kills someone in an accident, I'm not being specific about this case, but an accident in general, should never be allowed to drive again ?

jhegarty

Jip wrote: »

So you believe anyone that kills someone in an accident, I'm not being specific about this case, but an accident in general, should never be allowed to drive again ?

If there was negligence directly causing the death then yes , I do.

How many chances do you think he should get ?

Fizman

daymobrew wrote: »

This is a horrible story - not only did the driver not see the ped lights, he didn't see that the other traffic was stopped!?!

We can all learn something here - you gotta keep watching traffic even when you have the right of way. If someone does not appear to be stopping then you need to get out of the way.

Situation I found myself in last year.......and could easily have been the end of me.

Nice clear day while I was driving on Clancy's Strand, Limerick. I was sitting at a red light by the bridge (facing the Hilton/Strand hotel), and I was also first car at the lights. The roads were far from busy at the time. Lights go green for me, but for some strange reason I actually looked to my right before I decided to move off. Now instinct would normally tell me to move off (lights are green so let's get moving), but thank the Gods I decided to gaze over!

Inbound from the Ennis Road, this silver A4 is approaching the junction at an alarming speed for a car that is approaching a red. Ive moved a few feet at this stage but thankfully not enough to cross his path as he ploughs straight through the junction at about 50 kmph. As he wizzed by, I noticed he was also on his phone! My lights had been green for all of at least 3-4 seconds at this stage.

If I had done as normal and progressed, he almost certainly would have gone straight into my driver's side door, probably taking me out!

From that day I am slightly more vigilant went it comes to little things like that!

Jip

Fizman wrote: »

If I had done as normal and progressed, he almost certainly would have gone straight into my driver's side door, probably taking me out!

Not getting at you, (or maybe I am but at least you're aware of it now) but it's a big problem in that people assume that once their light goes green they're safe to go on, before moving off people should always be checking left, right, straight, where ever.

I'd reckon a lot of accidents would have been prevented if people didn't blindly follow the colour of the lights.

Fizman

Jip wrote: »

Not getting at you, (or maybe I am but at least you're aware of it now) but it's a big problem in that people assume that once their light goes green they're safe to go on, before moving off people should always be checking left, right, straight, where ever.

I'd reckon a lot of accidents would have been prevented if people didn't blindly follow the colour of the lights.

This is true. Let first point the finger at the person breaking the lights at high speed though!

Jip

Absolutely ! I was crossing over the NCR one day and had a green light, it hadn't just gone green, a few cars had already gone ahead of me, when this twat came from my right, through his red light and cut in ahead of me. The gas thing was that there was a garda car coming the other way, 3 gardai in a Fiesta. And I swear to god, they weren't going to bother doing anything until I was stopped beside them, threw my arms up in the air in a WTF gesture pointing at the car.

The face on the garda as he done a u-turn to follow the other idiot, you'd swear to god I has asked him to chase it on foot.

I know two people who have only one eye and both have no problem driving. One of them drives a crane for a living too without any difficulty.

langdang

Aurora Creamy Injury wrote: »

I know two people who have only one eye and both have no problem driving. One of them drives a crane for a living too without any difficulty.

Except on the days the other fella has the eye? yes, that's a terrible joke, hey - it's friday...

Cuddlesworth

Far too many of you people seem to have problems with pirates. Well I don't, and would happily let any pirate sail my land boat at any stage. As long as he kept the plundering and pillaging to a minimum.

Lisnagry

langdang wrote: »

I'd hand back the truck licence pretty fast fast after mowing down a guy at a set of lights i didn't even see? Seems obvious to me?

But would you hand it back before you mowed a guy down?

Gary ITR

Lisnagry wrote: »

Would any of ye that are giving out about being blind in one eye give back your licence if it happened to yourself??

I had an accident a while back, couldn't open my right eye (stitches in my eyelid) and for the week or so they were in I didn't even consider getting behind the wheel of a car. I think if it was permanent I'd give up driving altogether

fryup

whats the story with deaf people or partially deaf, are they allowed to drive??

cadaliac

Loud music in a car also renders you deaf in traffic - so to speak.
Back OT, the driver had one eye, which was medically deemed to be safe to drive a truck.
But, he ignored the road signs (lights and traffic build up), which he should have not done. There is no way that he didn't see or know about the lights, sorry but I just do not believe that.
As a poster said before, if he was traveling that road for the previous 5 months, do you honestly think that he didn't know there were lights there? Hardly.
Otherwise - in the case where he genuinely didn't see the lights, yes, he should have handed back his licence.

rbrt

Nearly witnessed an incident like this last weekend.

Coming out from town over Harold's Cross Bridge driving towards Terenure. I'm stopped second in line at pedestrian crossing circa 100 metres down from bridge. Pedestrian half-way across the road, lights turned to flashing amber when I spot a taxi-Camry approaching in the bus lane at speed, blind to the crossing pedestrian, and not reducing his speed in case there was someone there either. I see catastrophe approaching and start beeping my horn like a lunatic, too close to car in front to turn into bus lane and Camry too close, taxi proceeds through lights at speed, pedestrian had luckily checked his stride (don't know whether from my beeping or noticed the taxi), and guy in car in front of me still totally oblivious to what has just happened gives me the two fingers for beeping!

the_syco

cadaliac wrote: »

As a poster said before, if he was traveling that road for the previous 5 months, do you honestly think that he didn't know there were lights there? Hardly.
Otherwise - in the case where he genuinely didn't see the lights, yes, he should have handed back his licence.

If he genuinely didn't see the lights after driving on the road for 5 months, all the more reason he should be banned for life. I'd also check for other human remains on the right hand side of the truck, as I'm thinking he may be responsible for a few more unexplained deaths - if he failed to notice a pedestrian crossing for 5 months, what hope does any cyclist have when he's turning right?