A 96-year-old driver killed a pedestrian as he crossed the road after refusing to give up driving despite suffering from deteriorating vision. The 84-year-old victim was declared dead at the scene after being run down by the driver's Peugeot 208.
William Beer was suffering with bilateral cataracts and wet macular degeneration when he hit Illtyd Morgan in Caerphilly on April 6, 2021. He had been advised by an optician in March 2019 to give up driving, but the defendant renewed his licence after his wife was diagnosed with dementia.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard Mr Morgan was crossing Bedwas Road at 12.15pm on a "straight and level" stretch of road. There was nothing obstructing Beer's view of the road or his victim, who had been in the road for seven seconds prior to impact.
