A lorry driver who killed the occupant of a broken down car was browsing adult content sites at time of the crash.
A lorry driver crashed into a broken down car and killed a young girl because he was surfing explicit dating websites. Ian Glover was checking out shagaholic.com and sexuk.com when he collided with a car on the hard shoulder of the A5 near Aberysywth, Wales, killing one passenger and seriously injured another.
Police questioned the 44-year-old lorry driver on whether he was distracted when driving. He had said the ‘only distraction was the radio’ but police later discovered Glover had accessed the porn sites over 11 times in proximity of the crash using two of his three mobile phones. This accounted for 19 seconds of distraction.
Glover’s 44-tonne Mercedes lorry crashed into Lewis Pagett’s Vauxhall between 50-56 mph. Pagett and his fiancée Laura Thomas were sitting in the stationary vehicle awaiting roadside assistance, after breaking down on their way for a week’s seaside break.
On impact, the crash caused Pagett and Thomas to be flung from their car and over the safety barrier. Though Pagett had a head injury and fractured vertebrae, he performed CPR on his 20-year-old fiancée until paramedics arrived. Thomas was airlifted to hospital but was pronounced dead onboard.
Pagett said: “We had known each other since we were 13, and we were so excited to spend the rest of our lives together….Laura aimed to become a teacher for disabled children.”
Glover’s lawyer said that Glover was ‘deeply ashamed’ of his actions. The lorry driver admitted dangerous driving and was sentenced to five years in jail. The judge branded the collision ‘utterly avoidable.’
Thomas’ family has set up a charity to raise awareness for the dangers of distracted driving.
Only last month, the police vowed to prosecute motorists who were caught illegally papping a car crash. One man even took the law into his own hands, using a signal jammer on his daily commute to stop people using their cell phones. Distracted driving accounts for 10 per cent of deaths on the road.
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