Impulsive decision to fill up ended with crash into pump
PASSENGER INJURED
A WOMAN injured one of her friends by smashing into a petrol pump after losing control of her car while pulling into a service station.
Leicester graduate Adekemi Oyekanmi had come back to the city to celebrate her 23rd birthday with her university friends, a court heard.
On June 19 this year – the day after her birthday – a group of them set off from Leicester to head to the Go Ape adventure park, in Coventry, in her Toyota Yaris.
But as they headed south along Lubbesthorpe Road, Oyekanmi decided to stop for petrol.
She entered the Esso station near Meridian Park, in Braunstone Town, bumped over a kerb and lost control before smashing into one of the pumps, bouncing off a metal bollard and colliding with a stationary car.
One of her friends suffered injuries and Oyekanmi was later charged with driving without due care and attention.
Oyekanmi pleaded guilty to the charge at Leicester Magistrates’ Court last week.
Prosecutor Frances Love told the court the incident happened when Oyekanmi made the impulsive decision to turn into the petrol station.
“The defendant was driving with passengers in the car to Go Ape in Coventry and she needed fuel.
“All of a sudden, the defendant turned into the fuel station without warning. She collided with a floormounted bollard next to a petrol pump and a parked car.
“CCTV footage shows the car turn in at high speed and collide with a kerb before hitting the pump and then rebounding into the second car.
“The windscreen smashed and one passenger suffered muscle damage that required physiotherapy.”
Defending herself, Oyekanmi, of Landsdowne Road, Yaxley, near Peterborough, who has no previous convictions, said: “I had to get fuel.
“I felt the car slip and hit something (and) that caused me to panic and hit the pump.”
She said she had been driving for five years without any previous incidents, adding: “I truly apologise for the damage I caused.”
She was fined £246 and ordered to pay a £34 victim surcharge and £85 court costs. She also had six points put on her driving licence.
IN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY LACK OF ATTENTION