A New York tourist has been fined at a special sitting of a Roscommon court after he crashed his car into two motorbike police on his way to a traditional music festival.
Pearl River resident Gary Wilson had a charge of dangerous driving reduced to careless at a special sitting of Castlerea Court following the accident on Friday.
One police officer is still in hospital with a broken leg while the second officer has been discharged after treatment.
Wilson was fined almost $600 after pleading guilty to the charge of careless driving as he travelled to the Fleadh Cheoil festival in Sligo.
The 47-year-old motorist, his wife, and two children, aged about 10 and 12, were unhurt in the collision on Clarion Road, Sligo, according to the Irish Independent.
One of the children was due to take part in a music contest at the Fleadh.
The report says that one police motorcycle was still embedded in the rented car over an hour after the crash while he other motorbike was thrown yards metres away.
An eyewitness told the paper: “The gardai (police) appeared to be so seriously injured that the ambulance crew attending them wouldn’t let them move on the roadway.
“There was debris from the crash everywhere with smashed up bits of motorbike over a wide area.
“At first it looked really bad for the gardai because they were on the ground for a long time while ambulance crews worked with them. It’s a miracle they weren’t more seriously hurt in the accident.”
Police have confirmed that the officers the men, very experienced members of the traffic corps, were on their way out of Sligo in the direction of Manorhamilton when the driver came out of a side road to head towards Sligo and went across the motorcyclists.
The road was closed for a number of hours.
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