Man fined thousands of pounds for causing serious injury by careless driving

A careless driver has been fined thousands of pounds and banned from driving after a woman lost her leg following a collision.

Peter Bowen, of Chelford, appeared at Crewe Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 31 March where he was handed a £4,154 fine and was banned from driving for two years.

The 76-year-old will also need to pay a further £1,662 surcharge and £400 in court costs.

On 29 July 2024, police received reports of a serious collision in a car park in Broken Cross, Macclesfield.

It involved an Audi A3, driven by Bowen, which had collided with a pedestrian outside the Tesco store.

Bowen had been parked up when the now 80-year-old victim walked up to the cashpoint outside the store, which was directly in front of where Bowen was parked.

As Bowen attempted to drive off, the car moved forwards instead of reversing out of the parking space and caused serious crush injuries to the victim’s legs as she became trapped between the wall and the vehicle.

She needed surgery as a result and sadly had to have her right leg amputated above the knee.

Following an investigation by the Serious Collision Investigation unit, Bowen was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He pleaded not guilty, claiming the incident was caused by a fault with the vehicle, however he was later found guilty of causing serious injury by careless driving at Crewe Magistrates’ Court.

Bowen will now need to pass an extended driving test after his disqualification period.

A spokesperson said:

“This case shows how dangerous vehicles can be, causing life-changing injuries at very slow speed. A woman sadly lost a leg during this incident and needed extensive surgery on her other leg.

“Cars are lethal machines and I hope this acts as a warning to always ensure you are fully concentrating when in charge of a vehicle – it can only take a very small error to cause catastrophic injuries.”