An HGV driver who ploughed into a car parked on the hard shoulder of the M42 and caused serious injury to three members of the same family has been jailed for 30 months.
Warwickshire police said Dominic Nicholls, 53, never provided an explanation for why he allowed his lorry to drift on to the hard shoulder and collide with the Nissan X-Trail, which had pulled over after a warning light appeared on the dashboard.
The collision on the northbound carriageway near Kingsbury in Warwickshire occurred at almost midnight on 28 April 2022.
The family, which included an eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, were returning from a holiday in Sri Lanka when Nicholls’ 40-tonne truck struck the rear of their car.
All four occupants were injured; most seriously was the eight-year-old, who suffered life threatening injuries and was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Police said she survived the collision but will suffer for the rest of her life and will be unable to think, talk or walk again and will have to use a wheelchair.
PC Craig Pearson of Warwickshire Police’s serious collision investigation unit said “This is a very sad and tragic case.
“The dash cam footage from the HGV shows that Mr Nicholls makes no attempt to brake or take avoiding action prior to the collision.
“The standard of driving falls far below that expected of a careful and competent driver. We hope this sentence brings some comfort to the family whose lives have been devastated by what happened that day.”
