A road safety advocate has avoided a conviction despite running a pedestrian over on a crossing, ruining the keen hiker's retirement.
But Watson woman Marija Lemic, 51, will be banned from driving for six months as a result of what special magistrate Anthony Hopkins described as a "tragic" incident.
Lemic faced the ACT Magistrates Court for sentencing on Monday, when she pleaded guilty to a charge of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
Court documents show the incident in question occurred in May 2022.
The victim, who received a green signal, was two-thirds of the way across a pedestrian crossing on Bunda Street, in Civic, when a Kia station wagon struck her.
Lemic, who was behind the wheel, claimed not to have seen the victim as she turned off Northbourne Avenue.
In a statement read to the court on Monday, the victim said she "almost lost" her ankle and foot after Lemic's car knocked her down and then ran over her right leg.
The woman wrote about how she had retired early so she would have more time for hiking, snowshoeing and bushwalking, which were important activities in her life.
She said she had planned to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but her life had become an "ongoing schedule of medical appointments" and she would no longer be able to.
For some time after the incident, the victim could not drive or even live in her own home.
She described thinking, "This is it. This is going to be my last day."
She wrote she was now doing those things again, and "some easier bushwalks" were now possible, but she still often fought back tears and felt "terribly unhappy".
The court heard the woman now had a permanently scarred right ankle, into which "metalware" had been inserted.
Her injuries also carry the potential for long-term complications, court documents state.
Defence lawyer Georgia Le Couteur noted the victim impact statement suggested the woman was "on the road to recovery".
Ms Le Couteur also said the incident was "clearly an accident", with Lemic having only been inattentive for "microseconds or, at its highest, seconds".
The lawyer asked Dr Hopkins to spare Lemic a conviction, citing her extensive volunteer work and lack of criminal history.
The court heard Lemic's many contributions to the community included educating young people about the dangers associated with driving.
Her desire to do this stemmed from a drink-driver having left her with an acquired brain injury when she was a child.
A prosecutor accepted Lemic was "a productive member of the community".
But she opposed the making of a non-conviction order, arguing one would not accord with important sentencing principles that included deterrence of others.
The prosecutor also highlighted the fact the incident had occurred at a major city intersection at 12.20pm on a Thursday, saying there was an "obvious likelihood" pedestrians would be around.
Dr Hopkins ultimately made a non-conviction order, agreeing with Ms Le Couteur that the incident was "very much an aberration" and Lemic was unlikely to reoffend.
The magistrate said it was "tragic" someone dedicated to road safety advocacy had seriously injured another person while driving.
He decided to impose a six-month good behaviour order, and to disqualify Lemic from driving for the same period.
Dr Hopkins said he believed this outcome would send "a strong message" to the community, even without a conviction.
