9:27am Thursday 14th June 2012
A DRINK-driver has been banned from the road after she crashed her car and flipped it on to its side while she was more than twice over the legal alcohol limit.
Victoria Lowe, aged 31, was arrested after she smashed her Toyota Yaris into a parked Mazda 2 car outside Fusion Foods in Blackburn Road at about 10.45pm on May 18.
Lowe, of Outwood Grove, Astley Bridge, was trapped in her car when it flipped onto its passenger’s side, but was freed by onlookers.
Lowe was found to have 73 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath — the legal limit is limit is 35 micrograms.
Bolton magistrates sentenced Lowe, who had no previous convictions, to a 20-month driving ban and fined her £200.
She was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs. Claire Reilly, aged 20, from Astley Bridge, was sitting in the driver’s seat of the parked Mazda 2 when the crash happened.
Her car was written off, but she escaped without any serious injuries.
Speaking after the court case, Miss Reilly said Lowe was noticeably drunk when she was freed from her car.
Miss Reilly said: “The car came out of nowhere. I didn’t realise the car had hit mine at first, it happened so quickly.
“My car shook and I looked up and saw the Yaris on its side.
“There were about 50 people surrounding the car. People who were driving stopped to help her get out of the car.
“It took them a few minutes to get her out.
“She was fine when she got out of the car but she was shouting and swearing.
“She didn’t seem to understand what everyone was looking at.”
Miss Reilly was left shaken and with pain in her head and back.
She said she was pleased Lowe has been banned from driving but fears the incident could have been more serious.
Miss Reilly, an undergraduate early years teaching student at Edge Hill University, had to rely on lifts from her father until she was provided with a courtesy car.
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