A bus driver will not spend any time in prison after a suspended one-year sentence was imposed on him for causing the death of a cyclist in a crash. The court was told the driver was blinded by the sun and hit the cyclist because he did not see him.
Judge Martin Nolan said the driver "made a mistake", adding there was "misjudgement" in the way he drove and he should have seen the cyclist but did not. He believed the bus driver "was probably taking care at the time" but that "wasn’t enough" and the "poor" cyclist was dead. He suspended all of the one-year sentence and also did not impose any driving ban.
Mariusz Karpinski (32) Killegland House, Ashbourne, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to careless driving causing the death of Mark Hayden (49).
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Mr Hayden died from injuries he sustained when the "Swords Express" coach Karpinski was driving hit him on May 4th, 2021, near Kilshane Cross in north Co Dublin.
The court heard all parties accepted former bus driver Karpinski was driving in strong sunlight on the day and did not see Mr Hayden to his left. Judge Nolan said when drivers encounter strong sun they had to adapt and Karpinski took no such steps.
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However, he added there were no real aggravating factors as the driver had a full licence and was not using a phone, driving under the influence of intoxicants or engaging in a problematic manner behind the wheel.
According to BreakingNews, Judge Nolan remarked: “This defendant was driving reasonably carefully. He was probably taking care at the time, but it wasn’t enough. Poor Mr Hayden is dead."
Garda evidence stated the bus was being driven at 51-52km per hour in an 80km zone towards the back of Dublin Airport. A engineer's report showed Mr Hayden was visible to Karpinski for about two seconds before impact. A reconstruction weeks after the crash showed that on the same stretch of the road - where sun and shade were issues - a truck being driven ahead of a bus was almost impossible to see.
Karpinski, who is from Poland and lives in Ireland with his partner, had ceased driving a bus since the crash. The court was told he had "tremendous remorse" over causing the death of another person and that he suffered from mental health issues since the crash.
He told gardaí he noticed the windscreen smashing on the day and thought he had hit a piece of wood. He stopped the bus and was shocked to to he had hit Mr Hayden on his bike.
