Court: Car pushed into pond

A woman who said her car went into a roadside pond after she fell asleep at the wheel was found guilty last week of attempting to obtain $21,000 from the vehicle’s insurer as its replacement value. She was also convicted of making a false report to police about the incident, which occurred in early 2009. 

Sara Denise Jackson pleaded not guilty to both charges and Chief Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale conducted her trial over parts of several days to accommodate witnesses and attorneys’ schedules. 

In her verdict, the magistrate first summarised details of the incident. She said the incident occurred around 11pm on the East-West Arterial about a quarter of a mile east of Prospect Primary School. 

Jackson’s evidence was she had been asked to deliver some keys to someone on West Bay Road. Driving home from that errand, she was tired and rolled down all the windows of her Chevy Trailblazer to stay awake. But she must have fallen asleep, she said, because after passing the roundabout the next thing she knew, the car was bouncing and she realised she was on the road median. She over-corrected and then realised the car was front-on to the roadside pond. She made the decision to jump from the car, which she estimated at the time to be travelling 25 to 30 mph. The car continued into the water. 

Police were called and Constable Stacyan Steward went to the scene and took Jackson’s report. The officer observed Jackson wearing white pants with no dirt marks or grass stains; she saw no signs of injury consistent with jumping out of a moving car. 

Accident reconstructionist Vincent Walters told the court if Jackson jumped or rolled out of a moving vehicle, she would still be moving at the speed she was going in the vehicle. Given the measurements of the road and shoulder, she would have ended up in the water. But she was not wet when Ms Steward spoke with her. 

Accident reconstructionist Collin Redden examined the vehicle after it was recovered. The tow truck driver who removed it said the gear shift was in neutral. Mr. Redden said the ignition switch was in accessory position and the primary fuses were intact. He said there was very little water in the oil, whereas if the engine had been running it would have rapidly ingested water. Other information, including gauge readings, led him to conclude the engine was not operating when the vehicle entered the water. 

The magistrate said the evidence of the expert witnesses, who had no interests to serve, caused her to doubt Jackson’s account of the incident. She also found it incredible Jackson would jump rather than press the brake. Had she jumped, she would have been dirty, bruised and wet. 

The magistrate came to the conclusion Jackson had pushed the vehicle into the water, and found her guilty of both charges.  

Defence attorney John Furniss said Jackson, now 33, never received any money for the vehicle. In fact, she had consolidated all of her loans with one lending institution, so she was still paying for it. Meanwhile, it had been moved to her yard where it still sat stripped and useless. 

With no transportation she had lost her job and it had been hard to get another one.  

On the court’s finding, Mr. Furniss said, there was nothing to suggest there was any well-planned scheme in place. 

The magistrate said she did not know of any other case involving deliberate damage in an attempt to collect on car insurance. 

Court adjourned and Senior Crown Counsel John Masters, who had prosecuted, assisted the magistrate and defence attorney as they researched sentencing precedents. Jackson’s matter was adjourned until the next day. 

When court resumed, Mr. Furniss accepted imprisonment had to be considered, but asked if it needed to be immediate. He said the past few years had been a measure of punishment. 

The magistrate said an important factor for her was this was not a prevalent offence. Jackson’s action had been amateurish, ill-conceived and poorly planned. Although she pleaded not guilty, she had recognised her obligation to her lending institution. The offence was a single attempt, not over any length of time and no one else was involved. 

The alternative to prison was a suspended sentence or probation.  

Given other factors that probably prompted the offence, the magistrate said they could be better addressed by a sentence of probation along with 200 hours community service. For example, Jackson could benefit from budgeting classes and whatever other programme her probation officer sent her to. 

The magistrate also ordered Jackson to pays costs of $750 at the rate of $150 per month.