Rushing motorist caused crash
SMASH DRIVER INJURED TWO PEOPLE WHILE SPEEDING BECAUSE HE WANTED TO WATCH MATCH ON TV
An inexperienced driver injured two people in a head-on crash he caused while speeding to get home to watch an England match on TV.
Harry Evans took a blind turn in his Citroen, on the wrong side of the road, after travelling at 50mph and smashed straight into a car coming in the other direction.
Newcastle Crown Court heard couple who were travelling in the oncoming Vauxhall Astra suffered whiplash injuries and bruising.
The injured driver said he feared Evans “could have killed someone driving that way, like a maniac”.
Evans, who had had his licence for just seven months, told police at the crash scene, which was at the entrance to the estate where he lived, he had been “in a rush to get home to watch the England match”.
The 18-year-old, of Heron Close, Ayton, Washington, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
The crash happened on November 11 last year, the night England played Scotland in a World Cup qualifying game.
Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court an officer on patrol in Washington had noticed Evans’ vehicle travelling at speed and decided to follow and activated the vehicle’s dashboard camera .
Mr Pallister said: “As the officer approached a junction at Dunlin Drive he heard a loud bang.
“As he approached, he could see the defendant had turned right, on the wrong side of the road, and had collided with a vehicle coming out of the close.
“That vehicle had been travelling on the correct side of the road.”
Mr Pallister said the road into the estate had high walls and Evans had been “effectively turning blind, on the wrong side of the road.”
The injured couple, who had sore backs and necks as a result of the smash, had been travelling at only 5mph on the way out of the estate.
Mr Pallister played footage captured by the police car camera, which showed Evans’ car travelling in the distance and then the aftermath of the crash.
The court heard Evans remained at the crash scene and was questioned by the police.
Mr Pallister added: “He said he was in a rush to get home to watch the England match”.
Judge Sarah Mallett sentenced Evans to a community order for 12 months with 220 hours unpaid work and a 12 month road ban with extended test requirement.