Man with poor vision caused disabled woman's death by careless driving

An 87-year-old man, whose eyesight was not up to driving standard, escaped punishment despite admitting causing the death by careless driving of a disabled woman because an accident expert regarded the victim's actions as reckless.

Sheffield Crown Court was told that the war veteran had cataracts in both eyes and age-related macular degeneration, causing his vision to be ‘foggy' when he was driving home at 10pm in December 2008 and was in collision with a motorised scooter driven by a 43-year-old spina bifida sufferer.

The victim's scooter was in the road, accompanied by a carer, travelling in the same direction as the Ford Sierra driver and had been seen by other motorists at the time. Both women were injured in the car crash with the disabled woman dying from the consequences of her injuries six weeks later.

An accident investigator said it was reckless of the women to be on the carriageway with a black wheelchair, which had no lights or reflectors and was unlicensed for road use, although he added that the driver should have seen them on the well-lit road.

It was found that the pensioner could only read from a distance of six metres compared with 24 metres which a person with normal eyesight could see.

In giving him an absolute discharge, Judge Robert Moore said, "Punishment is not appropriate, the fact of the conviction is the real punishment."

He found special reasons not to impose a driving ban and ordered three penalty points on the man's licence, which has since been revoked by the DVLA because of his medical condition.

The driver's lawyer said his client had held a clean driving licence without a motoring offence for 69 years, including a long period as a taxi driver, and the situation which confronted him was not of his own making.

He was unaware of any decline of his vision and felt he was morally almost without blame for causing the death by careless driving.