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Fergal Greene (41) of Kilbegley, Ballinasloe, was charged with committing the offence at Thomastown, on the old Galway road between Athlone and Ballinasloe, on September 1 2015.
His BMW attempted to overtake a tractor and mower driven by John Dunning, an agricultural contractor from Dolanstown, Ballydangan, Athlone, at approximately 6pm that evening.
Mr Dunning was turning right, towards the road leading to his home, when the pair collided.
The investigating Garda in the case, Tony Brennan, told Athlone District Court that the accident was "very serious" and "could have resulted in a fatality".
In evidence the previous week, Mr Dunning said the crash caused between €25,000 and €28,000 worth of damage to his machinery, with the mower "written off" and the tractor needing repairs.
When giving his judgement last Wednesday, Judge Seamus Hughes said he decided the case based on "legal principles and my own experience as a driver".
He said there was a perception among some people that Gardai were not prosecuted but, in fact, Mr Greene had been "more assiduously prosecuted" because he was a Garda.
The judge said nobody had explained to him why there was a double white line on the straight stretch of road where the accident occurred. "I think the designers of that road marking have been over-zealous," he commented.
He was "satisfied" Mr Greene had started his overtaking manoeuvre before Mr Dunning began turning right, "otherwise [Mr Greene] would have had to have had suicidal tendencies."
"Is Mr Greene guilty of careless driving? I would suggest the vast majority of people would have taken the same action that he did in the circumstances.
"He should have been charged solely with the offence of passing over a continuous white line, which is a statutory offence.
"He was certainly guilty of that. I cannot find him guilty of careless driving," concluded Judge Hughes.
This story first appeared in the Westmeath Independent
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