A DROWSY 69-year-old Teignmouth woman has been banned from driving after veering across a motorway as police followed her.
When police blocked her in, they found a large amount of prescribed medication in the car of Erica Avern who other motorists thought was asleep at the wheel.
A court heard she also had a suspected fractured ankle at the time and had been sleep deprived in recent days. Walking sticks were in the car.
Police car footage showed her driving at up to 60mph on the M5 in Devon and veering from the fast lane into the slow lane one morning in March narrowly missing other vehicles.
The court heard she has multiple medical conditions but had continued to drive from Leamington Spa, 185 miles to her home in Alexandra Terrace Teignmouth.
And she had been stopped by police in Gloucester the day before after three reports of her poor driving on the M5.
Avern admitted careless driving and was banned for six months and ordered to pay £460 in fines and costs by Exeter magistrates.
Her lawyer said she was a member of MENSA and an alert lady and should have stopped driving on the M5 in Gloucester and called the AA.
He said the medication had nothing to do with her driving standard and suggested there may have been a fault with the steering.
He told the court: ‘She has heavy eyelids which make her look a bit tired.’
The court said she must apply to the DVLA to get her licence back when her ban expires in six months but will notify the Secretary of State about her health conditions.