Man suffers serious injuries after head-on crash with driver on wrong side of Herefordshire road

Gabor Szalovszky, from Hungary, had only been driving on UK roads for a little over two months when he crashed into the other driver on the A465 from Hereford to Burley Gate between Worcester and Hereford.

The other driver, Richard Leszczynski, had to be taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham by air ambulance after the crash at around 2pm on Monday, February 5 last year.

Mr Leszczynski suffered a punctured lung, a lacerated liver, a fracture to the wing of the pelvis, bruising and shattered teeth in the crash.

Szalovszky, aged 41, had already admitted causing serious injuries by dangerous driving when he was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday.

John Evans, prosecuting, said Szalovszky had pulled off the road into the entrance to a work site for the purpose of either resetting or activating his Sat Nav. When he re-joined the road he was driving on the wrong side.

A driver travelling behind Szalovszky in a Mercedes Sprinter tried to attract his attention by flashing his lights but the defendant did not see him.

Szalovszky had been driving on the wrong side of the road for between 300 and 400 yards before the head-on crash occurred.

Mr Evans said: “He (the driver of the Sprinter) wondered whether Mr Szalovszky was drunk but, in fact, he wasn’t.”

There were skid marks on the road indicating the defendant had braked before impact but made no attempt to swerve. The airbag was activated in Mr Leszczynski’s car.

“The collision was such that it wrote off both cars” said Mr Evans.

Details of a victim personal statement were read out by the prosecutor.

The court heard that Mr Leszczynski was a carer for his grandfather but his injuries left him unable to do that for two weeks and his brother had to take over these responsibilities and therefore was forced to take time off work.

Mr Leszczynski was on crutches for a month after the crash. He also needed physiotherapy, developed a limp and had to have dental work on two shattered teeth.

Michael Anning, defending, said his client was a man of previous good character and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He said: “It’s not a coincidence he’s a Hungarian national and has been driving in this country for a limited amount of time.”

Mr Anning said Szalovszky, of Mayfair Road, Camberley, Surrey, had been driving on the correct side of the road before he pulled off to ‘recalibrate his Sat Nav’.

“He instinctively rejoined on the wrong side because that is where his experience as a driver would have taken him” said Mr Anning.

Szalovszky had a driving licence, was insured to drive the car, remained at the scene and had shown ‘true remorse and regret’ said Mr Anning.

The court also heard that Szalovszky had asked to be able to contact the victim to express his regret for what happened.

“It was a single error, albeit with significant consequences” said Mr Anning.

The defendant, now working as a chef, was described as a former paramedic who had driven ambulances in Hungary and ‘an educated man’ who was deemed by probation to pose a low risk of reoffending.

Recorder Robert Spencer-Bernard said: “You are a Hungarian national, I understand, who had been driving in this country only since December of the previous year, for a little over two months.

“The essential mistake you made of driving on the wrong side of the road is one which perhaps many people have found themselves doing but for the grace of God have not got involved in a collision.”

However, he said Szalovszky was driving on the wrong side of the road for an ‘appreciable distance’ and that the injuries the other driver sustained were ‘serious’.

He said there were no other aggravating features.

Recorder Spencer-Bernard sentenced Szalovszky to six months in prison suspended for 15 months.

He further ordered him to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for two years.

After the ban has finished he must complete an extended driving retest.