Illegal U-turn manoeuvre led to motorcyclist’s death

A lorry driver has been jailed for nine years after making an “extremely dangerous” U-turn manoeuvre in Mansfield which led to the death of a motorcyclist.

Matthew Wright had been driving an Amazon Prime lorry along the A617 in July 2023 when he moved into the far left lane of four lanes before turning right at a crossroads – a manoeuvre that saw him cut across lanes two and three, which were for traffic going straight ahead.

By cutting across these lanes to complete the illegal manoeuvre, Wright caused 61-year-old Nigel Osler to crash into the front offside wheel of the lorry.

He was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where the married dad-of-two died later that day.

Following an investigation Wright was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

The 45-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on 3 October.

The court heard Wright had only been a licenced HGV driver for 55 days at the time of the collision and that this was his first criminal conviction.

His defence counsel said he performed the manoeuvre as he “genuinely believed it was safe to do so” and that he “does not in any way underestimate the profound consequences of his actions that day.”

Nottinghamshire police said they believed the manoeuvre was carried out because Wright was attempting to complete a U-turn.