Death crash teen drove on wrong side of road
ATEENAGE novice driver was on the wrong side of the road when she smashed head-on into another car, killing the pensioner at the wheel.
Hanna Siriol Lewis, 18, had only held a driving licence for a matter of months when she caused the death of 79-year-old Bryan John Smithers.
The teenager was driving friends back from the beach when she ploughed into the pensioner’s car.
Lewis admitted causing death by careless driving when she appeared at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Mr Smithers died at the scene of the crash on the evening of August 29 last year on the B4312 between the villages of Llangain and Llansteffan, south of Carmarthen.
The court heard Lewis, of Llandovery, was 17 at the time and had held a full driving licence for three months.
District Judge Christopher James was told Lewis was an inexperienced driver and unfamiliar with the road which she was driving along with friends after being at a nearby beach.
Prosecutor Sian Vaughan: “This is a tragic set of circumstances. She approached a bend on the wrong side of the road and it was a head-on collision.”
The court heard Mr Smithers had been travelling in the opposite direction on the correct side of the carriageway.
He lived in the village of Llanybri and was an active member of the community as treasurer of the local hall committee.
A forensic collision investigation report failed to conclude the exact speed either vehicle had been doing but the road had a 60mph limit.
Mrs Vaughan said Lewis had “perhaps been distracted by friends [in the car] having been to the beach earlier with them”.
A passenger travelling in Lewis’ Audi A1 was seriously injured. Mrs Vaughan said they suffered a broken wrist, a broken vertebrae, and a punctured lung and spent time in a body brace as part of their recovery.
Defence solicitor Gareth Walters said: “There are two factors here: the [passenger’s] injuries and Miss Lewis’ inexperience.
“She passed her test in May and the collision was at the end of August.”
He added: “The forensic collision investigation report could not place a definitive [answer] on the speed the vehicles were doing.
“Through various calculations and re-enactments and different speeds it does show that the corner taken at between 50mph and 55mph becomes unsafe.
“With Miss Lewis’ inexperience and lack of knowledge of the road there is no doubt this was a tragic incident.”
Court stories you might have missed
District Judge James said: “A lack of driving experience contributed, it seems, to the causality of the collision.”
He noted Lewis had a clean licence at the time.
District Judge James said the magistrates’ court sentencing powers were insufficient in the case and sent Lewis to Swansea Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, October 12.
She was granted unconditional bail.