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Jail for fatal tailgater

15th September 2005
Page 9
Page 9, 15th September 2005 — Jail for fatal tailgater
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A TAILGATING truck driver who was "driving his lony far too close to the vehicle in front" has been sentenced to two years in prison and banned from driving for three years.

Lloyd King from Benfleet in Essex was driving a fully laden artic on the westbound A14 when he ploughed into the back of a stationary queue of traffic at an estimated speed of 45mph.

Cambridge Crown Court heard that the impact was so hard that it sent another artic ploughing through the central reservation and across the opposite carriageway. Oncoming car driver Alex Barnard was powerless to avoid this truck; he was killed instantly.

Police arrived to find a "horrific" crash site with debris scattered for a distance of 140m across both carriageways of the trunk road.

In interviews with police King said he had not wanted to brake "too early" as it would "take ages to get going again".

Sentencing King at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Gareth Hawkesworth said it was clear that he had been driving too fast and too close to the vehicle in front.

King was ordered to take an extended re-test before he is allowed back behind the wheel.


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