‘Good fortune’ there was no crash when panicking driver turned around on approach to Humber Bridge
A panicking man who was driving behind an ambulance that was taking his wife to Hull Royal Infirmary[1] at 4.30am landed himself in trouble after he ended up taking a wrong turn near the Humber Bridge[2].
David Lister briefly lost sight of the ambulance that he was following and he did not know which way it had gone at the big roundabout just before the road that leads down to the toll booths.
He inadvertently took a wrong turn at the roundabout and found himself heading towards the southbound toll booths. He quickly realised his mistake and, in a panic, he made a “very poor decision” and hurriedly did a sudden U-turn and started driving back the way that he had come.
A lorry and a car were coming towards him to cross the Humber Bridge and they had to avoid his car heading the opposite direction on their stretch of the road, Hull Crown Court[3] heard.
Lister, 77, of Mill Rise, Swanland, admitted dangerous driving during an incident on the A15 at Hessle[4] when he was in a VW Polo on February 28.
Nigel Clive, prosecuting, said that an ambulance arrived at Lister’s home at about 4.30am to take his wife to Hull Royal Infirmary. Lister followed the ambulance in his car.
The ambulance headed towards the roundabout just before the southbound approach to the Humber Bridge but Lister seemingly did not see which way the ambulance went. He wrongly went straight ahead towards the toll booths.
He apparently realised that he had made a mistake and decided to do a three-point turn and drive back northwards. Traffic heading southbound towards the booths flashed their headlights at him.
Judge Mark Bury said: “It’s not the first time this has happened. It won’t be the last.”
CCTV from the near top area of the toll booths showed a lorry and a car were coming towards Lister as he headed back the wrong way. Lister was traced from his car registration plate.
He apologised in his reply to a letter and he explained that his wife was in the back of an ambulance at the time. He did not have any cash or bank cards on him so he felt that he could not go through the toll booths.
Lister was asked during police interview whether he had spoken to anyone at the toll booths but he had not quite got as far as that when he did the U-turn. “He has made an error and a poor choice of judgement,” said Mr Clive. It was “good fortune” that nothing serious happened because there was not much traffic about at that time of the morning.
Judge Bury said: “It would have been a different kettle of fish if he had collided with a vehicle coming the other way.” It was not uncommon for people to head onto the toll booths approach road without meaning to do so but there were ways of dealing with that situation other than that which was chosen by Lister.
Michael Forrest, mitigating, said that it was an emergency situation when the ambulance arrived at Lister’s home. The slip road that there used to be near the toll booths was now no longer available to the general public, said Mr Forrest. The slip road enabling a vehicle to double back could now be accessed only after a vehicle had passed through the toll booths, added Mr Forrest.
Lister had been driving for more than 50 years and he was a competent and considerate driver. He had speeding convictions but these were from many years ago.
“He accepts that he made a wrong and very poor decision,” said Mr Forrest. “His only objective was getting back to his wife as soon as possible.
“He realised almost immediately on the slip road that the ambulance wasn’t going there.” Lister was a pensioner but he worked part-time two days a week as a gardener.
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Judge Bury said that Lister knew that he was going the wrong way by heading towards the Humber Bridge but he decided to turn back and drive northbound on the southbound carriageway. In driving the opposite way to the southbound traffic flow, he had to avoid an oncoming lorry and a car – and they had to avoid him.
“I am prepared to accept that you were not in a calm frame of mind and that you were panicking,” said Judge Bury. Lister could not see which way the ambulance had gone.
He made the poor decision to turn around in the road rather than go to the toll booths and explain his position so that he could be given advice on how to get back to where he wanted to be.
Lister was fined £250 and he was given four penalty points on his driving licence. Special reasons were found not to disqualify him from driving because of the difficult circumstances in which he found himself.
References
- ^ Hull Royal Infirmary (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Humber Bridge (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Hull Crown Court (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Hessle (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
- ^ here (bit.ly)
- ^ here (bit.ly)