In an appeal to help prevent bad-boy drivers from excessive speeding, police have revealed footage of a smash that could’ve ended so much worse.
19-year-old Oliver Clark was both lucky to escape with his life and just a suspended sentence after ploughing into the back of a lorry at driving at upwards of 100mph whilst trying to flee from police.
The young driver was in a coma for four days following the incident and is still recovering from his injuries, despite it being almost a year since the incident.
The impact of the smash was so great, Clark’s Fiesta managed to push a fully loaded 32 tonne HGV down an embankment and a police vehicle was also hit.
At Grimsby Crown Court, he admitted dangerous driving and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years.
When speaking about the incident PC Sean Hutchinson said: "Due to the dangerous manner of Clark's driving, it was not possible to immediately bring the pursuit to a safe resolution, as to do so could have risked endangering the lives of the officers engaged in the pursuit.
"Clark then drove at speeds in excess of 100mph up the Barnetby Top slip road and collided with the rear of a 32-tonne lorry which was also heading up the slip road."
"Fortunately, the driver of the lorry escaped with minor injuries, as did the roads policing officer whose car was hit as Clark's car rebounded off the rear of the lorry," he said.
In addition to the suspended prison sentence, Clark was banned from driving for two years and ordered to take an extended retest before he could get his licence back.
Given the publicity around crashes that are often involving young people, we want to know if Regit’s readers are concerned about their children either driving or getting into cars with other people, and what’s being done to help promote safer driving? Let us know in the comments.
