Lorry driver’s ‘unsafe manoeuvre’ caused serious injury crash on A66
A BAN and unapaid work have been handed to a lorry driver whose "unsafe manoeuvre" on the A66 near Kirkby Stephen caused a serious crash. Salah Uddin Azam, 56, caused the accident by pulling into the path of an oncoming van on the road outside Stainmore Cafe, magistrates at Carlisle's Rickergate court heard. The defendant, at the wheel of his HGV, had already successfully pulled his truck on to the road's central reservation ready to turn right after visiting the cafe at 9.40am on the morning of July 2 last year.
But instead of waiting for the road to fully clear, he pulled on to the road's outside lane, causing the collision as the van collided with his wagon. ADVERTISEMENT The van driver suffered multiple injuries - including a serious leg injury.
He spent three weeks in hospital, needing plastic surgery and a skin graft, prosecutor Diane Jackson told the court. Nine months after that crash, he was still not fully recovered. He was unable to return to work until the end of February, though this has been in a different role and with reduced hours.
Mrs Jackson said the defendant, who admitted causing serious injury by careless driving, had performed an "unsafe manoeuvre." The van was "perfectly visible" when the defendant pulled out in front of it. Azam had no previous convictions.
John Smith, defending, said Azam, of Holker Street, Keighley, fully accepted responsibility for causing the accident but he felt that the injured van driver bore some responsibility for what happened. ADVERTISEMENT He pointed out that the defendant had not chosen the dual carriageway's outside lane recklessly as he pulled on to the road but in a considered way, this being a driving manoeuvre he had performed many times safely previously.
Had the lorry continued to cross the road to the slower inside lane, the van would have collided with the side of the trailer and caused a fatality, said Mr Smith. Magistrates imposed ban and a community order, both lasting for one year. This includes 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Azam must pay GBP85 costs and a GBP114 victim surcharge.
His ban will date from April 29 when his guilty plea was entered.