A man has been jailed today (September 17) for dangerous and drink-driving.
Ariel Babiarz, of Maudsley Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to drink driving and dangerous driving after causing two collisions and overturning the seven-and-a-half tonne road sweeper he was driving.
On March 9, 2019, Babiarz was driving on the B6480 in High Bentham, near Lancaster, when he collided with a red Volkswagen Lupo.
The collision caused the Lupo to roll onto its side, leaving the female driver with a number of injuries including fractured ribs. She was taken to Airedale Hospital for treatment.
Babiarz initially stopped at the scene of the collision, but then left in the road sweeper before police arrived.
He drove off and joined the A65 heading towards Austwick, when he was involved in another collision. This time, the road sweeper was tipped onto its side and Babiarz himself was injured, suffering a fractured ankle, ribs and vertebra.
He was also taken to Airdale Hospital for treatment, where a sample of blood was taken for analysis. That sample found that at the time of the collisions, he was driving with 146 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system, meaning he was driving the road sweeper while nearly twice the legal limit for alcohol. (legal limit – 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 milliltres of blood).
When interviewed by a roads policing officer, Babiarz later admitted that he had drunk nearly a litre of rum the night before the collisions.
Speaking about the sentence handed to Babiarz, investigating officer Traffic Constable Andy Ingram said: “This is a case I will never forget. With the size and weight of the vehicle that Babiarz was driving, it’s only by sheer miracle that a life was not lost that day.
“To drink drive and be involved in one collision and then carry on – onto a major road – and cause other vehicles to take evasive action and swerve out of the way, just shows a total disregard for other people’s safety.
“This case also highlights that to drink drive; it’s not a case of just having a drink and getting straight behind the wheel. The effects of alcohol can be felt in your driving ability and the speed of your reaction times for a long time after consuming it.
“Always ensure you are safe to drive and don’t assume that because you had a drink the night before, you are safe to drive the next morning. Ensure you have given it enough time for the alcohol to leave your system before getting behind the wheel, or you to could soon find yourself in court.”
Mr Babiarz was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and banned from the roads for three years and 18 weeks.
