Motorist not guilty of dangerous driving but faces retest after A40 crash (From Western Telegraph)

Motorist not guilty of dangerous driving but faces retest after A40 crash

4:03pm Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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A motorist whose car somersaulted along the A40 near Robeston Wathen has been cleared today (Thursday) of dangerous driving.

But Callum James Fitzgibbon was convicted of a lesser charge of careless driving.

Fitzgibbon, aged 20, was fined £500, six penalty points were entered onto his licence and he was ordered to retake his driving test.

Fitzgibbon told a jury at Swansea crown court he made a "misjudgement" when he overtook a Volkswagen Urban Fox near the Bush Inn between Robeston Wathen and Canaston Bridge on February 16 last year.

Fitzgibbon, of Arthur Street in Cardiff, had to swerve in front of the Urban Fox, driven by Mrs Jennifer Mogford, to avoid oncoming traffic.

But he turned the wheel so violently he lost control and his Renault Clio became airborne, somersaulting several times before sliding 150 yards down a hill, hitting an oncoming Vauxhall Corso.

Despite the impact, Fitzgibbon and his passenger were able to get out of the Clio unaided.

A motorist who saw Fitzgibbon overtaking vehicles, Mrs Sally Frost, of Narberth, described him as behaving like a Formula One driver. Fitzgibbon's barrister, Ieuan Rees, said his client accepted that he had driven carelessly but successfully argued that the driving did not amount to being dangerous in the eyes of the law.