A speeding Canberra driver who ran a red light in peak hour traffic, causing an accident that seriously injured a grandmother, has been banned from driving and handed a suspended jail sentence.
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Ashleigh Rose Fountain, 26, was going 90km/h in an 80km/h zone when she ran a red light through the intersection of Belconnen Way, Lathlain Street and Catchpole Street, and hit a Toyota Corolla, driven by a Canberra grandmother, about 5.15pm in April last year.
The grandmother was rushed to hospital and required emergency surgery for her injuries, which included a punctured lung, a perforated intestine, and fractured vertebrae, ribs, and pelvis.
She spent a week in intensive care and three months in hospital recovering.
A victim impact statement, tendered in the ACT Supreme Court, described how, at one point in her recovery, the grandmother "lost all hope" and "wanted to die".
The court heard she still suffers pain, anxiety and depression as a result of the accident, feels like a burden on her family, and will need further surgery in the future.
Fountain pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable driving negligently causing grievous bodily harm.
The court heard the offender had been on her way home from work at the time and became distracted before the crash.
She had no criminal record and not drink alcohol or use drugs.
A pre-sentence report assessed her as a low risk of general reoffending and expressed remorse, recognising that her behaviour was wrong and that she has caused considerable harm to the victim and the victim’s family.
The judge also disqualified her from driving for two years.
"This is a tragic case, firstly because of the hurt and harm caused to the victim but also because it requires punishment of a normally law-abiding person who over a few short seconds slipped into a careless manner of driving," Justice Elkaim said.
"Roads are a very dangerous place. Accidents involving motor vehicles inevitably result in serious injuries. Motor vehicles are becoming ever more complex and traffic conditions ever more congested.
"While the act of negligence is on one view a minor distraction from appropriate attention, it is at the same time the possible trigger for a catastrophic accident as has occurred in this case."
