A woman who was seriously injured after the car she was in, flipped onto its roof has been left wheelchair-bound and requiring lifelong specialist care. The woman was a passenger in a Ford Focus when the driver, a 28-year-old man, lost control on a bend, and the car rolled several times before coming to rest in a field.

The woman suffered severe spinal injuries and lost the sight in one eye because of the road traffic accident. The Crown Court in Chelmsford heard that the driver had been drinking earlier that day, although he was under the limit for driving. The court also heard that tests had revealed that he had taken ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis days before the incident.

The car had been travelling at 50 mph in a 60-mph zone and the judge ruled that it was an error of judgement rather than habitual dangerous driving. He said that the accident had been caused because the driver braked too much because he thought he was driving too fast to maintain control over that stretch of road. The driver admitted guilt to causing serious injury through driving dangerously, received a three-year driving ban and a two-year suspended sentence. He was also ordered to pay £1,200 in costs and complete 280 hours of unpaid work.

As in this case, when evidence suggests that an accident was caused because of a person’s negligence, they may face criminal charges. In addition, any other party that might have suffered injury due to that accident could seek compensation through a civil action. A compensation settlement may take medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, the severity of any injury and the additional financial costs incurred by the collision into account.

Source: Daily Gazette, “Mum of twins was left with catastrophic crash injuries“, Jan. 12, 2015