A mum-of-four who ploughed her Toyota 4x4 into oncoming postulation has said the treble smash was not her responsibility due to the fact that the car's machine strategy 'took over'.
Diane Bryan, 58, from Barnsley successful South Yorkshire, got the marque caller Toyota RAV4 Excel conscionable six months earlier she was progressive successful the December 2022 crash.
The motability conveyance strategy allows radical who person mobility idiosyncratic independency payments (PIP) to commercialized their payments successful for an adapted vehicle.
She insisted that erstwhile she tried to crook near circular a crook the instrumentality of the £41,000 conveyance refused to budge - and that the 'white line' exertion didn't footwear successful to propulsion her backmost erstwhile she crossed the cardinal point.
Dashcam footage from the travel from Southampton to Glastonbury shows the car veering implicit to the different broadside of the roadworthy earlier colliding with 2 oncoming vehicles - the drivers of which walked distant from the country uninjured.
Diane Bryan, 58, was recovered blameworthy of driving without owed attraction and attention
Picture shows 1 of the cars aft the smash connected December 17, 2022
Dashcam footage of the clang shows Diane's Toyota veering crossed the roadworthy into oncoming traffic
The mother-of-four got the marque caller Toyota RAV4 Excel done the motability scheme
Diane was recovered blameworthy of driving without owed attraction and attraction successful court, was fixed six points and an £800 fine. Diane besides claimed her car was scrapped earlier it was tested.
The Toyota RAV4 includes features specified arsenic a Pre-Collision System designed to mitigate crashes by activating the brakes if the operator fails to.
Other features see Lane Trace Assist which keeps the car successful the halfway of the lane utilizing steering assistance and an exigency telephone strategy to activate automatically successful the lawsuit of an accident.
Diane said successful February this twelvemonth she received a callback announcement connected the Data Communication Module of the exigency telephone system.
Errors listed included 'emergency calls... cannot beryllium received by the vehicle' and 'the astir caller determination information volition beryllium cleared'.
Speaking aft the case, Diane, said: 'I'm a transgression for the archetypal clip successful my life.
'I person a transgression grounds for thing extracurricular of my control. I'm frightened of driving and americium tense connected the roads. I don't thrust connected roads I don't know.
'The car was designed that astatine nary constituent should it ever beryllium capable to transverse a achromatic line, but it went consecutive over.
'If you get adjacent to a enactment the steering instrumentality vibrates - if you disregard the vibration it re-centers itself successful the road.
'But determination was nary vibration successful the steering instrumentality and it didn't re-center itself.
'I went to tribunal and 3 magistrates wholly disbelieved what my hubby and I said. I got charged with driving without owed attraction and attention.
'I was offered a Safe & Considerate Driving Course alternatively of points and a good which I accepted, but they couldn't supply an adapted vehicle.
The mother-of-four said the car's machine strategy 'took control' of the conveyance earlier the crash
'Because I not longer had my conveyance I couldn't bash it - but had I been able-bodied, I could person done the course.
'Instead I was fixed six points connected my licence for the archetypal clip successful implicit 30 years of driving.'
Diane and hubby Stan Bryan, 56, were driving from Southampton to Glastonbury connected December 17, 2022 erstwhile the mishap happened.
The parent said she was moving from a 60mph portion into a 40mph portion erstwhile the car went consecutive connected astatine a crook contempt her turning the instrumentality aft it was pulled retired of her manus 'by the car' and started spinning.
She besides claimed the brakes and pre-collision strategy didn't work, the airbags didn't deploy and added the exigency telephone diagnostic - designed to telephone the exigency services successful the lawsuit of an mishap - besides failed.
'Nothing worked the mode it should,' she said.
'My doorway didn't open, and my hubby had to footwear his doorway open.
'I conscionable retrieve him screaming my sanction from extracurricular and trying to get the doorway unfastened – the occurrence work chopped maine retired the car.'
Diane claimed the car was taken distant by constabulary but was mistakenly scrapped earlier it was inspected.
She has a spinal cord lesion successful her cervix and is paralysed down the right-hand broadside but claimed she went done a afloat DVLA aesculapian appraisal and had her licence renewed with nary conditions portion awaiting trial.
At Barnsley Magistrates Court connected February 22, she was charged with driving without owed attraction and attraction and - aft a 1 time proceedings - she was recovered blameworthy and sentenced.
Now, Diane has a caller car but is struggling to get backmost connected the roads and travel to presumption with the transgression conviction.
She said: 'I'm truly struggling to judge being a criminal. I got a good of £800 - my lone income is PIP.
The South Yorkshire pistillate said she is struggling to get backmost connected the roads pursuing the incident
Picture shows the exigency services astatine the country of the crash. The 2 different drivers were not injured successful the smash
'I've got a caller car, but I'm frightened to person operator assistance switched on.'
Toyota were approached for remark but said they could not supply a remark astatine this clip due to the fact that they were incapable to analyse the car.
A spokesperson for Avon & Somerset Police said: 'A conveyance was collected by a betterment institution pursuing a three-vehicle collision connected Sunday 17 December 2022 connected the A361 successful Dean, Shepton Mallet.
'Thankfully, no-one was earnestly injured successful the collision.
'As this was a low-level roadworthy postulation collision, a conveyance would not beryllium recovered for introspection nether the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
'The institution was contacted 2 days aboriginal by the operator connected December 19 who asked wherever the conveyance was truthful she could pass her security company.
'On December 29, the conveyance was collected by an idiosyncratic acting connected behalf of the security company, arsenic is modular procedure.
'The operator was spoken to nether caution by officers where, erstwhile asked, she was noted nary caller issues with her vehicle.
'She did not notation immoderate defects done the people of the interview.
'The idiosyncratic has present been recovered blameworthy of driving without owed attraction and attraction and would person had an accidental for this to beryllium raised arsenic portion of their defence.'
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