Man banned from driving for four years for causing catastrophic injuries to Wetherby schoolteacher

A man has been given a four-year motoring ban after his careless driving caused serious injuries to a female motorist on a main road near Wetherby.

Jonathan Haigh, 66, pulled out of a junction into the path of a vehicle driven by the named victim at an accident blackspot on the B1224 York Road near Rudgate.

His car struck the victim’s vehicle which was shunted to the other side of the carriageway, York magistrates heard.

The crash caused catastrophic injuries to the Wetherby woman including a broken pelvis, a spinal fracture, a hip injury and internal bleeding, said prosecutor Georgina Fishwick.

Immediately after the accident on February 23, witnesses rushed to the mangled wreck of the victim’s car and went to her aid as they waited for emergency services to arrive.

The woman, who was working as a schoolteacher, was taken by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary where X-rays revealed she had fractures to her pelvis and the bottom of her spine.

She also suffered bruising to her elbow.

She spent three nights in hospital before being discharged with crutches and painkillers.

Ms Fishwick said the victim’s spinal injury had caused secondary damage to her hip joint.

Following the collision, emergency services closed the road both ways from the Rudgate crossroads.

Haigh, of D’Arcy Road, Selby, appeared for sentence on August 24 after he admitted causing serious injury by careless driving at a previous court hearing.

In a statement read out by the prosecution, the victim, who is a mother, told how in the moments after the crash she thought she was going to die.

She said she “couldn’t believe” that Haigh had pulled out of the junction when he did, adding: “I know it’s a fast ‘B’ road and it’s an accident blackspot.

"Time flashed before my eyes.”

“I was relieved to hear voices and reassured when people said they were there to help.

"I was worried the car might catch fire because I’d just filled a tank of petrol.”

The victim, who lived just a 10-minute drive from the crash scene, said she remembered a searing pain in her back and felt like her elbow had been broken.

She said that after being discharged from hospital on the fourth day, just getting around the house was “incredibly painful”.

She had since had nightmares and had to take medication to help her sleep.

She said that due to her injuries, her then employer had to pay for a supply teacher to cover for her.

She still had only “limited movement” despite regular physiotherapy, and she had applied for counselling at Talking Therapy.

To make matters worse, she had lost some of her belongings in the wreckage of her car which was written off.

Haigh’s solicitor Kevin Blount said the Selby man accepted that “it’s clearly an unsafe

manoeuvre because he’s pulled out of a junction when he shouldn’t have done”.

“There was a car there – he didn’t see it,” added Mr Blount.

He said that Haigh, who entered court with the aid of walking sticks, had his own mobility problems and a range of health conditions including arthritis and diabetes.

He was reliant on state benefits.

Magistrates gave Haigh a four-year driving ban and ordered that he take an extended re-test before he was allowed back on the roads.

He was fined £480 and ordered to pay £85 costs, as well as a victim surcharge of £192.