Police in Nottingham have released horrifying footage of a lorry crash that left a student with life-changing injuries.
Lorry driver David Price was charged with dangerous driving and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison since the incident. He has also been handed a 29-month driving ban, according to reports.
The 65-year-old was driving into Nottinghamshire on the A17 at Newark on June 8, 2018, when he crashed into a queue of cars after failing to react in time.
Warning: This video contains distressing footage:
His vehicle smashed into the back of a Renault Clio driven by a Leeds University student who was travelling from Norwich to Leeds, as Nottinghamshire Live reports.
The student’s car then collided into the back of an Audi A1, which was then launched forward into the back of another lorry.
As a result, the driver of the Renault Clio suffered life-changing injuries including a bleed on the brain, a broken back, broken neck, broken arm, broken ribs and broken nose.
She was forced to go through a number of operations and had to withdraw from university as a result of her horrific injuries.
The driver of the Audi, who was on the way to Leeds to see her daughter, also suffered serious injuries that forced her to have time off work.
In a statement, the woman said she ‘believed she was going to die that day’ and felt ‘lucky to have survived’.
Price was driving at around 55 mph when he approached the queue, and collided with the Clio at 49mph.
Tests showed that Price applied emergency braking when he was approximately 15 metres away from the Clio.
Inspector Heather Sutton, Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for the Newark and Sherwood area, said:
We have issued the dashcam footage, with the agreement of the victims, as a warning to drivers to pay attention when behind the wheel.
Price’s dangerous driving caused catastrophic life-changing injuries within the space of a few seconds.
It could all have been avoided if he had paid attention when behind the wheel. Now he has time to reflect on the consequences of his actions in prison.
Nottinghamshire Police hope that in releasing the footage, drivers will be more vigilant on the roads.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.