https://m.herald.ie/news/taxi-mans-careless-driving-led-to-multivehicle-pileup-on-the-m50-36883493.htmlA taxi man whose careless driving led to a multi-vehicle pile-up on the M50 has been put off the road for two years.
Iftiicher Sabir (35) was trying to 'bully' his way into a lane of traffic exiting the M50, but the rear of his car was still on the motorway and a truck was forced into the overtaking lane to avoid him.
This caused a follow-on crash involving three other vehicles and traffic came to a standstill.
Timbers that were unsecured on the roof of one of the vehicles also went through the back window of the car in front of it.
Judge Anne Watkin said Sabir's driving was the very definition of carelessness.
The defendant, of George Reynolds House, Irishtown, was found guilty before Dun Laoghaire District Court of careless driving at the M50 Sandyford on September 22, 2015.
The judge fined him €3,000 and disqualified him from driving for two years.
Eyewitness John Doyle said he was stopped in traffic exiting the M50 at around 9am when he saw a blue taxi indicate and try to force its way into the line of traffic.
He stopped at the hatched markings.
Swerved
A tanker truck then slammed on the brakes to avoid the taxi, and a second truck behind the tanker swerved out on to the fast lane of the M50 to avoid a collision.
Three cars in the overtaking lane braked heavily to avoid the truck, but they crashed into each other, and unsecured timbers on the roof of one vehicle went in the back window of a second vehicle.
The court heard no one was injured in the crash, but there was a lot of material damage.
Mr Doyle said he approached Sabir and asked him if he knew he had caused an accident.
He gave evidence that Sabir said it had "nothing to do" with him and drove off.
In his evidence, Sabir said someone had flashed him to let him into the exiting lane of traffic. He also said his vehicle was on the hatched markings, not on the road.
The court heard that Sabir, who had no previous convictions, had been a self-employed taxi driver for 10 years.
He was married and had four children, one of whom had been born three weeks earlier.
His lawyer asked Judge Watkin not to put Sabir off the road, saying he would not get social welfare if he was not working.
However, Judge Watkin said this was "not a small matter" and she disqualified him for two years.
