Driver who smashed head-on into car thought road to A1 was dual carriageway
A driver ploughed head-on into another car on a blind bend thinking the road was a two-lane slip-road to the A1.
The victim was left with a broken chest bone, fractured rib and wrist, while both cars were written off following the smash on the A639 next to the A1.
Junaid Ishaq was on the wrong side of the road and heading towards the A1 when his VW Passat collided with the Nissan Note, which was heading towards Upton.
The 32-year-old admitted causing serious injury through dangerous driving at Leeds Crown Court.
The crash took place at around 4.30pm on May 19, 2023. Both drivers had been travelling between 35mph and 40mph.
Due to the restricted view on the bend, neither driver had time to swerve, prosecutor Jennifer Gatland told the court.
The injured victim was able to get out his Nissan and remonstrated with Ishaq, who held his hands up and said he thought it was a two-lane slip road merging onto the A1.
The court heard there was signs and road markings that were clearly visible on the approach to the flyover.
The victim was taken to St James’s Hospital in Leeds. He later required a bone-graft operation on his wrist.
He has not been able to return to his job as a HGV driver. In a victim impact statement, read out by Ms Gatland, he said he was now struggling for money and had a child to support.
Ishaq, of Henry Road, Birmingham, has no previous convictions although he has six penalty points on his licence.
Mitigating, Imran Khan said: “He has made a significant error in his driving that he knows has left a lasting impact on his victim.
“The version of events put forward are correct, he simply made an error.
“He thought the carriageway was one way. He is genuinely remorseful.”
Ishaq himself works as a delivery driver and will almost certainly lose his job because of the mandatory driving ban faced.
The judge, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl KC told him: “It was plainly unintentional but a careless piece of driving. Both vehicles were unsurprisingly written off.”
He gave Ishaq a 12-month community order, 200 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month driving ban. He will also be required to take an extended retest to get his licence back.