A TEENAGED girl who caused a crash which left a 91-year-old woman with life-changing injuries has been allowed to continue driving after magistrates put five points on her licence.

Alice Glover turned right into the path of an oncoming vehicle on the A30, near Crewkerne, saying she did not see it coming.

Because the elderly backseat passenger had previously removed her seatbelt she was thrown through the front two seats and her head came to rest in the front footwell.

She was airlifted to hospital suffering from multiple serious injuries and the defendant’s passenger received a broken ankle and was also taken to hospital.

The defendant claimed she had been blinded by strong sunlight in the late afternoon, a claim that was backed up by one of the witnesses to the accident.

Several weeks later he repeated the same manoeuvre and found that the sun, along with the shadow from nearby trees, made it very difficult to see oncoming traffic.

Glover, 18, of Higher Halstock Leigh, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving on June 6 without due care and attention on the A30 Rayn Hill near Crewkerne.

Somerset Magistrates, sitting at Yeovil, were told that the defendant was driving her Ford Fiesta westbound on the A30 with her friend as a passenger.

As she approached a right hand turn towards Ilminster a Volvo was being driven in the opposite direction with a 91-year-old passenger sat in the rear.

“Glover slowed and turned right towards Ilminster into the path of the Volvo and a heavy impact occurred,” said court clerk Lisa Boyce.

“The elderly passenger, who had taken her seatbelt off, was thrown through the front seats and her head came to rest near the front passenger footwell.

“The defendant’s vehicle had crossed the double white lines into its path and both vehicles were extensively damaged.”

The elderly patient was airlifted to hospital with life-changing injuries, including to her hip and abdomen, and the defendant’s passenger had a broken ankle and was taken to A&E at Yeovil District Hospital. The driver of the Volva also sustained facial injuries and a loose tooth.

Mrs Boyce said that when Glover was interviewed by the police she blamed the sun being in her eyes for the collision but admitted she should have pulled the sun visor down and later took full responsibility for what happened.

In a statement she said she could not express how sorry she was for what happened and how sorry she felt for the other people involved.

The driver of the Volvo said she realised that Glover had not caused the accident deliberately saying that if she had a few more driving lessons then she would be happier.

Defending solicitor Jeffrey Bannister said that Glover lived in the countryside and had just obtained an evening job and would need her car in order to get to work. She has also booked herself onto a young drivers course.

He said the witness following Glover retraced her steps a few weeks later and said that the trees and shadows on the road made the oncoming cars very hard to see.

Magistrates endorsed her licence with five points and fined her £80 with £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.