Woman with phobia of driving is banned after crawling along motorway at 10mph

A woman with a clinical fear of driving was banned and ordered to re-take her test yesterday after police caught her crawling down a motorway at 10mph.

Officers spotted slowcoach Stephanie Cole, 57, idling along in her Perodua Kenari with a sign in the back which read "I do not drive fast, please overtake."

She straddled the hard shoulder and inside lane of the 70mph motorway and, despite driving at a walking pace, repeatedly jammed on her brakes.

Stunned officers pulled Mrs Cole over only to be told: "I'm scared. I've no confidence on the motorway."

She said she'd been stopped on a previous occasion by a policeman - who then drove her to her destination. Magistrates in Bristol took pity on her yesterday after hearing how the wheelchair-bound MS sufferer needed her car to get around.

They handed down a three-month conditional discharge and banned her from driving for just seven days, after which she must re-take her test.

Mrs Cole, of Fishponds, Bristol, previously had an unblemished 30-year driving record but admitted inconsiderate driving at an earlier hearing. The court was told that her GP had been treating her for a "fear of driving" for the last three-and-a-half years.

Mrs Cole, a former station assistant at BBC Radio Nottingham, said: "I have suffered from a driving anxiety for some time and I have been receiving counselling for the problem. I apologise for my behaviour. I think a driver improvement course would help."

The court heard that PC Duncan Verel saw Mrs Cole idling down the M32 in Bristol at 1pm on August 30 last year.

In a statement read to the court he said: "As I entered the motorway traffic was slowing and swerving to the right in order to avoid a Perodua Kenari.

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"I got four metres behind the car and signalled for it to pull over. I spoke to the driver and she told me she had no confidence, and the last time this had happened a policeman drove her there.

"I began escorting her back onto the motorway and it was quite clear how slowly she was driving.

"I was still in first gear and the engine was only ticking over. She was continually braking and still maintained a speed under 10mph as she steered across the road."

PC Verel then pulled her over again and cautioned her before guiding her off the motorway. Speaking before yesterday's hearing Mrs Cole said: "I had driven on to the M32 by mistake. Once I realised that there was no exit, that was when my confidence deserted me.

"I won't ever go on a motorway again but I drive perfectly well on normal roads."