Dangerous drive down busy Kerry road captured on dash-cam could have been ‘serious tragedy’
The KerrymanDash-cam footage and phone calls from a concerned citizen led to a conviction for a motorist who sped down the centre of a busy Kerry road.
Volodymyr Vorobiov (32) of Ocean View, Portmagee appeared before Judge David Waters on dangerous driving charges at Tralee District Court on Wednesday.
The first videos showed Mr Vorobiov’s vehicle speeding down the centre of the Castleisland - Tralee road at 12.13pm on April 24, 2025, forcing cars to drive on the shoulder as he overtook a number of vehicles, including a lorry.
Moments later, he had crashed near a Tralee hotel.
A witness who owned a dash-cam testified he was driving at the speed limit of 100kph when overtaken, and estimated the defendant drove at 120 to 130kph.
The witness told the court he saw damage to a guard-rail beside the Earl of Desmond Hotel as he approached Tralee and then saw the car parked on the hard shoulder a few hundred meters away.
A man appeared to be trying to repair it, said the witness.
Video footage included audio of his calls describing the scene to gardaí, as well as evidence of Mr Vorobiov trying multiple times to drive the damaged car along the hard shoulder.
“The car’s in bits,” the witness is heard telling gardaí.
He waited for 20 minutes for gardai, updating them with regular phone calls. In cross-examination, the witness stated he clearly saw the male driver when overtaken.
A garda testified that when he reached the scene, the defendant explained he had been speeding because he was late for a hospital appointment. He produced evidence for this.
This indicated language was not a barrier, said the judge.
It was a first conviction for Mr Vorobiov, who was represented by solicitor Brendan Ahern. The State had charged Mr Vorobiov for two counts of dangerous driving but the judge noted it was a continuous event, despite occurring in two areas. One charge was struck out.
The judge observed that when Mr Vorobiov overtook drivers in the filter lane, most motorists responded quickly and drove to the side but a learner driver was slower to react.
“Could easily have been a serious tragedy, there,” said Judge Waters.
He disqualified him for two years and fined him €500.