3 weeks ago
10
Nathan Briant,South of Englandand Duncan Kennedy,Correspondent
BBC
Barry O'Sullivan was found guilty of causing death by careless driving at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday
A van driver who crashed into a broken-down car in a smart motorway's fast lane has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving.
Barry O'Sullivan was driving a Ford Transit Connect on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12 in Berkshire when he hit a stationary Nissan Micra at about 08:30 GMT on 7 March 2022.
Pulvinder Dhillon, 68, from London, was a passenger in the car and died.
O'Sullivan, 45, of Wixams, Bedfordshire, said there was nothing to warn him of the car on the motorway, with signs and alerts defective for days before the crash.
Prosecutors at Reading Crown Court said any competent driver should still have avoided the Micra, owned by Dhillon's daughter, Rajpal Dene.
But the defence argued that an accident was always likely to happen and that O'Sullivan was failed by the smart motorway system.
O'Sullivan was found to have been driving at about 77mph in the moments before the crash.
Footage taken in the moments before the collision showed multiple motorists driving around the marooned car.
Prosecutor Ian Hope said O'Sullivan "essentially ploughed straight into the back of the stationary Nissan, with there being no apparent avoiding action to the naked eye."
O'Sullivan, who had a clean driving licence and showed no trace of alcohol or drugs, suffered serious injuries himself and was in hospital for four months following the incident.
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