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51-Year Old Woman Turned Vigilante, Sued for DIY Speed Bump That Damaged Audi, Is Cleared

Speeding is a big issue in urban areas, and that’s why the government invented speed bumps. But this woman created her own DIY speed bump that damaged an Audi. And now, after being sued for the damages, she claims her life has been “made hell,” amid being cleared by a judge.
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Photo: K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
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The event happened a year ago in the remote village of Edgeworth, near Bolton, UK, and now we have a resolution to the case.

Andrea Wilkinson, who is a 51-year-old woman, was angry with people whizzing on her street. So, on a faithful night, after drinking a couple of glasses for courage, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She took a few rocks and created her own DIY speed bump with them cobbled together, after repeated pleas for a 20-mph (roughly 30 kph) limit and speed bumps. After her little DIY project was done, she posted in a neighborhood group on social media, and received quite a lot of support from fellow locals.

But, two days later, law firm worker Amy Leadbeater drove her Audi A1 Sportback into the stones at 25 mph (40 mph). Which turned into a legal battle, Wilkinson being accused of criminal damage.

Leadbeater claimed to Burnley Magistrates Court that her collision with the improvised speed bump caused damage to her Audi. She initially paid £44.96 ($60) to have the Audi fixed. But that wasn’t all, because her turbocharger had allegedly been wrecked in the collision, and had to pay a further £1,200 ($1,600) to fix it. Mrs. Wilkinson claimed she was exaggerating the extent of the damage and told the judge that “it is impossible for that to be damaged like that."

With a lot of luck, Mrs. Wilkinson was cleared of the charges, when the judge decided it’s unclear whether Ms. Leadbeater’s Audi collided with the “speedbump.”

Mrs. Wilkinson told The Sun: "This has made my life hell for the last 12 months.” She added: "I've been cleared of any wrongdoing, so that's it."

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About the author: Monica Coman
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Imagine a Wenn diagram for cars and celebrities. At the intersection you'll find Monica, putting her passion for these fields and English-Spanish double major to work. She's been doing for the past seven years, most recently at autoevolution.
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