Impatient Audi driver tried to use tiny layby to undertake HGV on A50 near Derby
An impatient driver tried to undertake a lorry at speed using just a tiny layby on the A50 near Derby.[1] Footage captured by the HGV driver showed an Audi being driven by Karanveer Thind attempting to carry out what the judge called “a highly-dangerous manoeuvre” before having to brake hard and colliding with the truck.
Derby Crown Court[2] heard how the 26-year-old did so as he had lost patience trying to get past two lorries, one of which was overtaking the other. And when he was asked about what happened at the scene he told police “the HGV drivers were taking the p***”.
Handing him a suspended prison sentence, Recorder Adrian Reynolds said:[3] “It was obviously a highly-dangerous manoeuvre. You were undertaking an articulated lorry and you could not see what you were driving into.
“Your impatience caused you to take an absolutely ridiculous risk. If someone had broken down (in that layby) and children would have been standing behind the car it does not bear thinking what the consequences would have been. All due to your impatience.
POLL: Do you feel safe in Derby city centre?[4]
“You made a decision to undertake and you must have realised the road was about to run out, you could not see what was in front of you, it was a blind manoeuvre.”
Almas Ben-Aribia, prosecuting, said the incident took place on the eastbound A50 close to Hilton at around noon on May 18, this year. She showed a short clip of what took place to the court which was taken from a camera on the lorry Thind collided with.
The prosecutor said: “One HGV was overtaking the other and the defendant was behind the one in lane one in a black Audi S3. The female driver of that lorry said ‘I was just literally driving along and the next thing my trailer started to rock.
“‘I thought it was a tyre blow out but then I checked my mirror and could see a black car which looked like it was stuck on the trailer’. The driver found a safe place to stop and called the police.
“It is a good job the driver caught the incident on camera as when the defendant was asked about it he told the police ‘the HGV drivers had taken to p***.”
Thind, of Lenthall Avenue, Thurrock, Essex, pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving. He has no previous convictions of any kind.
Ranjit Lallie, mitigating, said his client had made admissions to his offending at the scene and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He said: “He is a relatively young man of positive good character and is a hard-working member of society.
“He knows his actions were stupid and knows he is lucky. This involvement with the criminal justice system will not be repeated.
“Having his case sent to the crown court has left him with sleepless nights worrying about the outcome.” The judge handed Thind a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and disqualified him from driving for a year.
He said: “I am also going to fine you £5,000 as a financial reminder of the gravity of your conduct.”
We send out the biggest stories in an email every day. Sign up for the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here[5].
References
- ^ on the A50 near Derby. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Derby Crown Court (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Recorder Adrian Reynolds said: (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Do you feel safe in Derby city centre? (xd.wayin.com)
- ^ the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)