Elderly woman reminded 1970s safety slogan after injuring motorcyclist

Elderly motorist, 77, avoids jail for seriously injuring motorcyclist when she pulled out in front of him in ‘momentary lapse of concentration’

  • An elderly woman has walked free after injuring a motorcyclist in her car 
  • Christine Clarke, 77, was reminded of a 1970s road safety slogan

A judge reminded an elderly woman of 1970s road safety slogan ‘Think once, Think twice, Think bike’ despite letting her walk free after seriously injuring a motorcyclist.

Christine Clarke, 77 pulled out in front of David Wilson in her Fiat 500 at a road junction after she failed to spot him travelling along the carriageway in front of a fire engine.

Mr Wilson, who was riding a Yamaha motorbike, tried to take evasive action but crashed into the driver’s side door of the Fiat and went over the car, banging his head on the roof.

He was left with multiple fractures to his spine, broken ribs and a broken nose. Clarke from Winsford, Cheshire later said she had seen the fire engine coming towards her as she pulled out onto King Street in Byley, Cheshire – but failed to see the motorbike travelling in front of it.

At Chester magistrates court, she faced jail after she admitted causing serious injury by careless driving but was fined £500 after District Judge Jack McGarva ruled it was a ‘momentary lapse of concentration’.

Christine Clarke, 77, was reminded of an iconic 1970s road safety slogan after she seriously injured a motorcyclist

Despite walking free, the motorist was banned from driving for a year and fined £320 

She was also ordered to pay £320 in costs and was banned from driving for 12 months. 

The judge said it was the kind of error highlighted in the famous 1978 Government road safety campaign fronted by the late Match of the Day presenter Jimmy Hill and TV actor Edward Judd.

Sentencing the judge said: ‘You are also a person of exemplary character and it is very sad for someone to get to 77 and find themselves in court having a lecture from a judge.

‘This case is not about people deliberately taking risks or deliberately setting out to harm other people, it’s about making mistakes. In my view this was a momentary lapse of concentration.

‘You did check when you went to pull out and you saw the fire engine. What you did not see, tragically, was the motorbike in front of it. It addresses the need for all of us to pay particular attention.

‘There was a famous campaign ‘Think once, think twice, think bike’- and it could not be better placed as to what happened here. Just a bit more care from you would have resulted in you seeing that bike in front of the fire engine. 

‘Mr Wilson has got life-changing injuries and I am afraid that this is something you have to live with, knowing that you have caused that. It could have been avoided with a bit more care.’

Robert Earl, prosecuting, said the incident occurred at 3.50 pm on November 12 of last year. ‘The victim was riding his motorbike towards Middlewich,’ Mr Earl said, ‘As he approached the junction with Yatehouse Lane, on the left-hand side, he could see the defendant’s vehicle at the junction waiting to turn right into King Street.

‘As he got to the junction she emerged out of the junction and pulled halfway across the road. He attempted to brake and steer around it, but he was unable to do so. He impacted the driver side door and went over the roof of the defendant’s vehicle, banging his head on the roof.

‘He sustained various serious injuries. He was taken to Leighton Hospital but due to the seriousness of the injuries he suffered, he was transferred to the Royal Stoke Hospital. He sustained numerous fractures to his spine, a broken nose and some broken ribs. They were grave injuries.

‘The defendant was subsequently interviewed and the long and the short of it is she did not see the victim when she pulled out in front of him.’

The motorist was described by her counsel as a ‘decent lady’ with an unblemished driving record

‘Think once, Think twice, Think bike’ was famously used by the Department of Transport as part of a road safety campaign in the 1970s

In mitigation Mrs Clarke’s counsel Andrew Nuttall said: ‘The defendant’s thoughts right from the start of this incident have been with Mr Wilson and she made that clear to the police. She is a very decent lady, she has an unblemished record, nothing on her licence at all, for her to say she is taking full responsibility.

‘There is a school of thought that says these days, that one light on the motorbike is not necessarily something human beings can take in. We are so used to seeing two lights which is one reason why motorbikes are putting two lights on.

‘There is no indication that either on this day or any other day that she has driven in a poor state. Disqualification is going to be quite a hardship. She does not make a complaint about that – but she does care for her husband who has Alzheimer’s and sadly that is getting worse.

‘He needs an operation and needs to go back to hospital. He is also, sadly, having tests for cancer. This lady is going backwards and forwards to the hospital with him. It is going to be costly now that she is going to have to use public transport.’

In the TV road safety campaign sponsored by the Central Office of Information for Department of Transport, the film featured a graphic depiction of an accident to shock the audience. Hill told viewers: ‘That car driver will be more careful next time. For the motorcyclist, there isn’t going to be a next time.’ Judd said in his film: ‘He is very hard to see – but he’s dead easy to hurt.’

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