‘Impatient’ van driver caused life-changing crash with dangerous overtaking

An "impatient" van driver caused a horror smash when he overtook a lorry and slammed into an oncoming car, a court has heard. The collision happened on a stretch of road with double white lines prohibiting overtaking but Ian Vaughan "deliberately" chose to ignore them. Swansea Crown Court[1] heard the driver of the oncoming car was an off-duty policeman on his way to work who suffered a smashed wrist which has effectively ended his frontline policing career.

Sending the defendant to prison the judge said the case was another reminder that when people get behind the wheel they are responsible not just for their own safety but for the safety of all other road users too. Alycia Carpanini, prosecuting, said the collision happened on the A487 between Talybont and Bow Street north of Aberystwyth[2] on June 20 last year. She said the casualty in the case, Edwards Bates, was driving to work in Carmarthen[3] and approaching a bend in the road when he suddenly saw a white flat-bed van coming towards in him his lane as it overtook a line of slower traffic.

She said all Mr Bates could do to try to avoid a head-on crash was to veer towards the hedgerow on the left hand side of the road but the two vehicles collided. She said a witness to the crash who was following the defendant would later tell police he saw Vaughan pull out to overtake a Mansel Davies lorry which was ahead of him, contravening the solid white lines on that stretch of the road as he did so. The witness said he then saw the flat-bed van veering to the side of the road before it collided with an oncoming car.

The court heard Mr Bates was taken to hospital and underwent CT and MRI scans and an X-ray which found a complex fracture to his wrist which required surgery. Miss Carpanini said the casualty was a police inspector who had been on reduced duties at work as a result of his injuries and she said the officer was unsure whether he would be able to return to full duties or would be medically retired from the force. The barrister said Vaughan attended a voluntary interview in October where he said he had only seen the oncoming car after starting the overtaking manoeuvre. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here[4]

In an impact statement which Mr Bates read to the court he said he had been left with limited mobility and constant pain in his wrist, and was also suffering from lower back and knee pain. He said he had so far attended no fewer than 53 medical appointments in connection with his injuries and had been told he was highly likely to develop arthritis in the damaged wrist and may have to undergo further surgery to fix the joint in place meaning he would have no mobility in the wrist at all. He also said he was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

The officer said he used to have a promising career in the police force but due to his ongoing injury he had missed out on promotions and was unable to return to frontline policing - something he had loved - so now had a back-office job, something he had never wanted. He said Vaughan's "reckless and selfish" behaviour had had a huge impact on his life and he said "things will never be the same again." Ian Vaughan, aged 32, of Bryn y Gog, Machynlleth, had previously pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

He has one previous conviction for one offence, a battery from 2016. Callum Munday, for Vaughan, said the defendant had been compliant with the police and he said his client fully accepts responsibility for his actions. He said Vaughan had been working at a bike park but and had now secured work in a care home in Machynlleth, work which would start within weeks were he to keep his liberty.

Judge Geraint Walters said he was very familiar with the stretch of road in question having driven it "more times than I care to remember". He said on the day in question Vaughan had been following a Mansel Davies lorry and then - in a manoeuvre "born out of impatience" - he had tried to overtake the HGV, deliberately contravening the solid white lines in the middle of the road in so doing. He said Mr Bates, like any driver on that stretch of road, could not have expected to see someone "coming at him" on the wrong side of the road in the no overtaking zone.

The judge added he was concerned to read comments made by the defendant in the pre-sentence report that on the day in question his boss had been driving ahead of him on the road and had called him telling him to "hurry up" - the judge said if that was correct "I hope he has had time to think about the appropriateness of that". With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Vaughan was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

He was also banned from driving for three years and eight months and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.

The judge said the case was another reminder that when people get behind the wheel they are responsible not just for their own safety but for the safety of all other road users.

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References

1. ^ Swansea Crown Court (www.walesonline.co.uk)
2. ^ Aberystwyth (www.walesonline.co.uk)
3. ^ Carmarthen (www.walesonline.co.uk)
4. ^ For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here (www.walesonline.co.uk)