Lorry driver who couldn’t stay awake left man fighting for his life in …
An exhausted lorry driver who struggled to stay awake at the wheel ploughed into queuing traffic on the M11 causing life-changing bone fractures and a brain bleed to others. Ivan Zhyhan denied that he was too tired to be driving the lorry when he crashed into a van in front of him which then crashed into another lorry.
Shortly before 10pm on February 13, 2019, police officers were called to a three-vehicle crash that occurred between junctions eight and seven on the southbound carriageway of the M11 near Harlow. At the time of the crash there were matrix warning signals illuminated over the carriageway indicating that there was a lane closure ahead, resulting in queuing, stationary traffic.
Zhyhan was driving an articulated lorry and was travelling at 45mph when he ploughed into the back of a stationary Renault Kangoo van in front of him, shunting the van into the rear of the stationary articulated lorry in front of that. Zhyhan was later arrested at the scene.
During interview, he claimed he didn’t see the van until he was around 20 metres away from it despite other vehicles travelling slowly and the van’s hazard lights illuminated. Zhyhan, 50 formerly of St Chads Road, Tilbury, was later summonsed to appear at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on in October 2020 to answer a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He denied the charge and stood trial at Basildon Crown Court in April. Following a seven-day trial, a jury found him guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and he was remanded in custody. On June 29 at the same court, Zhyhan was sentenced to two years and four months in jail and disqualified for three years and extended to reset his test.
Ivan Zhyhan has been jailed for causing a serious crash on the M11 (Image: Essex Police)
PC Alan Marks, investigating, said: “I want to pay tribute to the victim, who despite his very serious injuries, has supported our investigation to reach this conclusion. He sustained life-threatening injuries, hospitalising him for a month, and included two skull fractures, a bleed on the brain and fractures to his neck, ribs, vertebrae and shoulder.
“His recovery isn’t over. Ivan Zhyhan was too tired to drive. His journey was captured by dash cam CCTV footage from within the cab and showed how he was trying to keep himself awake but ultimately, he failed. The collision was completely preventable if he had only stopped at the services at junction eight and rested.”