A tailgating van driver who caused a head-on collision involving an ambulance on a 999 call has been told his actions left two people with lasting serious injuries.
Chi Li, 40, was at the wheel of a Peugeot Partner van when it ploughed into the back of a car as it slowed for the ambulance on a blue-lights emergency.
The collision on the A146 at North Cove, near Beccles, in August last year caused the car to rebound off banking before crashing into the ambulance leaving its two occupants with serious injuries.
READ MORE: Four taken to hospital after crash involving ambulance on A146
IT consultant Li, of Bristol Road in Costessey, previously pleaded guilty to two charges of causing serious injury due to careless driving.
Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told he had been driving “uncomfortably close” to the car for a long stretch of the single-carriageway road.
As a result he did not have enough time to react when the car slowed to give the ambulance space.
The driver of the car, Jack Colman, sustained multiple fractures and had to be airlifted to hospital.
In a statement read in court he said: “The pain immediately after the collision was horrendous from head to toe.
“I struggled to breathe because of the injuries to my head, chest and lungs. I had two surgeries and spent a week in the hospital.”
Since then he has required 36 medical appointments and daily physiotherapy to support his recovery and may require a future knee replacement.
His passenger, Amanda Colman Young, also sustained serious injuries including broken ribs.
She said she had feared he had been killed in the crash and now “feels unsafe and fearful driving”.
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Three paramedic staff in the ambulance, which had no patient on board, were also taken to hospital for treatment.
Ian Fisher, mitigating, said Li had admitted he was “clearly at fault” and if he had given enough distance the outcome “may have been very different”.
“He is genuinely upset and ashamed about the serious injuries he caused,” he added.
Magistrates imposed a 12 months community order requiring Li to carry out 150 hours unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for a year.
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