A driver and his passenger were seriously injured when a vehicle swerved in front of them, causing a crash which flipped their car over and rolled it three times on the A1 near Grantham.
Peter Moller, 53, of Boston Road, Sleaford, moved his car into the outside lane even though he was only doing 30mph causing another vehicle to hit him and roll over on to its roof, said Jim Clare, prosecuting.
The driver of the crashed vehicle said he had nowhere to go and could not take avoiding action.
His wife was asleep at the time and sustained serious head injuries and was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, and still suffers headaches. The driver suffers post-traumatic distress.
Defending Moller, Judith Armstrong said that at the time of the crash, near the B6403 junction, it was raining.
She said Moller believed he was driving at 50 to 60mph and he moved into the outside lane because traffic was slowing down in front of him.
“He could not remember if he had checked his blind spot.
“He has had no accident in 33 years of driving and it has been a shock to him to be involved in these court proceedings.”
The court heard that Moller, from Denmark, was working on an energy project near Sleaford and needed to drive every day for his job, and to collect colleagues arriving at the airport from Denmark. It was a “momentary lapse of concentration” that led to the crash.
Moller’s licence was endorsed with five points and he was fined £470.
He was also ordered to pay £43 costs and a victim surcharge of £47.