M11 crash: Lorry driver Ivan Zhyhan jailed and banned for causing …
A lorry driver who denied he was too tired to drive has been jailed for causing a collision on the M11 near Bishop’s Stortford in which a man suffered multiple life-changing injuries
Police were called to a three-vehicle crash on the southbound stretch of the motorway between junctions 8 (Stortford) and 7 (Harlow) shortly before 10pm on Wednesday February 13 in 2019.
At the time of the collision illuminated matrix warning signals over the carriageway indicated that there was a lane closure ahead, resulting in stationary queueing traffic.
Ivan Zhyhan, 50, was jailed for 28 months and disqualified from driving for three years
Ivan Zhyhan was driving an articulated lorry and travelling at 45mph when he ploughed into the back of a stationary Renault Kangoo, shunting the van into the rear of a stationary articulated lorry in front of that.
Zhyhan was arrested at the scene. During interview, he claimed he did not see the van until he was around 20 metres from it, despite other vehicles travelling slowly and the van’s hazard lights flashing.
Following an investigation by Essex Police’s serious collision investigation unit, Zhyhan, 50, formerly of St Chads Road, Tilbury, was summonsed to appear at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on October 15, 2020, to answer a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The wreckage of the victim’s stationary Renault Kangoo van after a lorry ploughed into the back of it
He denied the charge and stood trial at Basildon Crown Court, which did not start until April 24 this year. After a seven-day trial, a jury found him guilty and he was remanded in custody.
On Thursday June 29, at the same court, Zhyhan was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment. He was disqualified for three years and ordered to resit his test.
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 dashcam 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 [Birchanger Green] services at junction 8 and rested.”