TAXI driver Richard Smith sustained massive injuries when a goods van ploughed into his car on a wet road.

Doctors told the 6ft 2in York man that had he been smaller, he would not have survived.

The father-of-two had to be airlifted to hospital, suffering from a fractured right arm, requiring screws, a metal plate and a bone graft from his hip. He also suffered a broken collar bone and internal bleeding requiring the removal of eight inches of bowel, causing a deep scar on his stomach.

Five months later he still cannot use his right hand and has so far been unable to return to work.

But now Mr Smith has discovered that the Mercedes van driver will not face any charge, despite admitting responsibility.

He has been told in a letter from North Yorkshire Police that the man could instead go on a one-and-a-half day driver improvement course, which will cost the driver £160 from his own pocket.

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Mr Smith, of Bridle Way, says the van driver had admitted responsibility for the collision, which happened last August on the A166 at Holtby, five miles from York, and should be prosecuted.

"I have only just started to get feeling back in my right hand because of the nerve damage and I can't hold anything," he said. Mr Smith said his family - wife Sam and children Jarred, nine, and Bethany, six - struggled through Christmas living on an incapacity and child benefits, and an interim £5,000 payment by the insurance company.

But as he was self-employed and Sam did not work, the family faced an uncertain future. He said he was right-handed, and had not been able to write legibly so far. There would always be some damage to his arm, but it was not yet know how serious it would be. "I am hoping and praying I will be able to return to work by April, but that depends on what the doctors say. I go back later this month to see if the bone graft has taken."

Mr Smith's comments come only days after the Evening Press reported how 21-year-old nurse Lisa Gurden from Strensall received a similar letter from police after she was knocked off her bike on York's outer ring road by a driver who admitted responsibility. Again the driver was offered a chance to go on the course rather than face prosecution. A North Yorkshire Police spokesman denied the force was going soft on drivers who admit causing accidents.

He said: "Each case is assessed entirely on its own merits regardless of other cases and one of the major considerations is what is the most practicable way ahead.

"It is sometimes the case that it is more useful for everyone involved if somebody is taught to be a better driver than to be fined and get some points on their licence."

Updated: 10:01 Thursday, January 06, 2005