A MOTORIST whose driving left a bus driver in a wheelchair unable to do the job he loved, has been fined.

Car driver Izabela Goslawska, 41, turned right into the path of the 57-year-old bus driver as he was going home on his motorbike, York Magistrates' Court heard.

The two vehicles collided, “resulting in him coming off the bike, flying into the air and hitting the ground, causing serious injuries to his leg,” said Kathryn Walters, prosecuting.

The collision happened at the traffic-light-controlled junction of The Mount, Dalton Terrace and Blossom Street.

In a personal statement, the bus driver said the crash "has affected every aspect of my life".

Nine months after the crash, he has to use a wheelchair and a mobility scooter, cannot drive and has no date when he can go back to work.

“He loved his job,” said Mrs Walters reading the statement. “He’s done it since 2006. He feels depressed and anxious about the future.”

Goslawska, 41, of Richmond Street, Tang Hall, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving.

Her barrister William McBarnet said: “It was a momentary lapse of concentration, a lapse she thinks about every day since that moment.”

She was fined £600, ordered to pay a £240 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs and banned from driving for 12 months.

District judge Adrian Lower said she didn’t intend the consequences of her driving but “you are going to have to live with the consequences forever".

Mrs Walters said the bus driver finished his shift on August 19 last year and set off home on his motorbike.

As he rode from the city centre along The Mount towards its junction with Dalton Terrace and Albemarle Road he overtook a Micra that was driving “extremely slowly”.

Goslawska, driving a dark-coloured car, was in Dalton Terrace.  

The motorcyclist was in the inside lane and a line of traffic was queued in the right-hand lane. The traffic light was green for him as he went into the junction, said Mrs Walters.

Goslawska turned right into his path. He braked immediately but was unable to avoid the collision. 

His left leg was broken and his knee cap was injured. He has not been able to drive for First York since.

His most recent hospital appointment left him feeling “disheartened” because his recovery was not going as well as it could be, said Mrs Walters.

Mr McBarnett said Goslawska was a “caring, conscientious, sensible and responsible mother,” who was full of remorse. He handed in character references.

She had no previous convictions and had had a clean driving licence.