"A van driver who crashed into a broken-down car in a smart motorway's fast lane has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving. Barry O'Sullivan was driving a Ford Transit Connect on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12 in Berkshire when he hit a stationary Nissan Micra on 7 March 2022. Pulvinder Dhillon, 68, from London, was a passenger in the car and died."
"Prosecutors said any competent driver should still have avoided the Micra, owned by Dhillon's daughter, Rajpal Dene. But the defence argued that an accident was always likely to happen and that O'Sullivan was failed by the smart motorway system. O'Sullivan was found to have been driving at about 77mph in the moments before the crash. Footage taken in the moments before the collision showed multiple drivers driving around the marooned car."
Barry O'Sullivan, 45, was driving a Ford Transit Connect on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12 in Berkshire when he hit a stationary Nissan Micra on 7 March 2022. Pulvinder Dhillon, 68, a passenger in the Micra, died. O'Sullivan was found guilty of causing death by careless driving and had been travelling at about 77mph moments before the crash. O'Sullivan said there was nothing to warn him of the car and that signs and alerts had been defective for days. Prosecutors said any competent driver should have avoided the Micra; the defence said the smart motorway system failed O'Sullivan. Footage showed multiple drivers passing the marooned car.
Read at www.bbc.com
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