Community work and fine over smash

A Napier driver who crashed into a car - shunting it into a scooter - while adjusting his radio has been sentenced to community work.

Adam Thomas Toi, 48, was yesterday sentenced to 150 hours' community work and ordered to pay $500 reparation to the man riding the scooter.

Toi, who had previously pleaded guilty to the charge of careless driving causing injury, was also disqualified from driving for nine months when he appeared before Judge Geoff Rea in Napier District Court.

The charge followed an incident at a Greenmeadows intersection on April 28, just after noon, where a vehicle driven by Toi ran into the rear of another vehicle waiting at traffic lights. The second vehicle cannoned into the scooter, dislodging the rider who was then hit by Toi's Ford Explorer.

The 20-year-old victim was carefully pulled clear. He suffered a broken collarbone and a gashed knee.

Toi told police it happened while he was adjusting his radio, and Judge Rea had highlighted the impact of a moment's inattention. "That's all it takes," he told Toi in court last month.

After the crash, police had said the scooter rider was "a very lucky young man". Both the 4WD and the car were badly damaged but passengers were not injured. The road was closed for about an hour and detours put in place during a normally mildly busy time.

Toi's court record includes multiple sentences for drink driving, including prison sentences.