A biker’s leg had to be amputated after a crash caused by an OAP’s bad driving.
Susan Meadows pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving when she appeared before Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Friday (26 April).
The 76-year-old was in her silver Volkswagen Polo when the incident happened on the A36 at Stapleford, near Salisbury, at around 11.20am on 18 July last year.
Prosecutor David Logan-Rose said the defendant had “gone around a bend too fast and veered onto wrong side road”, ploughing head-on into motorcyclist Kevin McLoughlin.
The victim “woke up in ICU with his leg amputated”. He also sustained significant injuries to his back, pelvis and shoulder – which are now being held together with pins and rods.
With such traumatic and life-changing injuries, Mr McLoughlin – who served in the Iraq war – spent four months in two hospitals, Southampton and Salisbury.
Mr Logan-Rose told the court that Meadows was not speeding, but took an advised 30mph bend “too quickly”. He also said that Mr McLoughlin was wearing “full protective gear”.
In a victim personal statement, the biker said he had 40 years of experience on motorcycles – from the age of 16, he had been riding or repairing them.
“My world and my family have been turned upside down”, he wrote.
“I’m very lucky to be alive and I am very grateful to Wiltshire Air Ambulance, who spent two hours at scene and airlifted me to Southampton [General Hospital].”
Mr McLoughlin also thanked the civilians who kept him alive before emergency services arrived.
Events were caught on the dashcam of the lorry travelling immediately behind the motorcyclist, who was riding safely and was positioned in the centre of his lane.
Defending, Hannah Thomas said her client “wishes the victim to know how sorry she is”, adding that she “thinks about him and his family and prays for them…she could not be more sorry”.
She said that Meadows had voluntary retired from driving following the crash, which came after 22 years on the road with an unblemished record – and had even taken an advance driver course.
The court heard that the defendant, of Lacey Road in Stockwood, Bristol, had a fall shortly after the tragic event, which has affected her mobility and she cannot handle stairs anymore.
Magistrates imposed a 18-week prison sentence suspended for two years. She was banned from driving for one year and must complete an extended re-test should she which to drive again.
“This was life-changing for both of you, and we hope to never see you int he courts again”, Maryanne Burton, chair of the bench, said.
