A motorcyclist left with life-changing injuries by a driver who was trying to beat a traffic jam says the crash continues to haunt him each night.
Andrei Nistor, 19, was left with broken arms, legs, hands and shoulder blades as well as spinal damage when Stuart Hutchinson drove his car into his path on the A259 in Hooe.
Hutchinson has now been banned from driving for 15 months and given 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to careless driving.
Mr Nistor, from Eastbourne, said: “The image of the white car turning in front of me, leaving me helpless, haunts me every night.
“This memory is a constant source of stress, it feels like I am reliving the moment when I believed I was about to die.”
The collision has left him “emotionally scarred” and with anxiety, he said.
At Hastings Magistrates’ Court on November 20, Hutchinson admitted causing serious injury by careless driving.
The court was told how the incident happened at 8.30am on November 29, 2023.
Dashcam footage showed Hutchinson, now 40, in the white Nissan Qashqai turning abruptly in an attempt to travel in the opposite direction, near the turning for the Custom Café.
He had been turning to avoid a build up of traffic travelling towards Bexhill.
Mr Nistor was filtering past traffic, and Hutchinson did not see him. The manoeuvre gave him no time to react.
Speaking after the case, PC Lewis Jordan from the Roads Policing Unit, said: “This case demonstrates the devastating consequences of a moment of carelessness.
“When asked at interview whether he would have carried out the manoeuvre in a driving test, Hutchinson declined to comment.
“It shows that the turn was not advisable. It was attempted to save perhaps just a minute or two of queueing in traffic due to temporary road works on the A259.
“The result is that a young man’s life has been changed forever.
“It highlights the need for all motorists to take care on our roads, and to look out for vulnerable road users.
“All drivers should check that a manoeuvre is safe to complete, and in the case of cycles and motorcycles, think bike.”
Hutchinson, formerly a chef, of Brinklehurst Drive, Bexhill, must also pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.
