Devon lorry driver narrowly avoids death crash

A Devon lorry driver who crashed into a field off the A30 in Somerset to avoid a collision has kept his licence after convincing magistrates his actions could have prevented a fatality. Alex Clark, of Honiton, was driving westbound along the carriageway by Buckland St Mary in his 17-tonne Volvo articulated lorry when traffic suddenly stopped ahead of him. The 27-year-old claims his quick-thinking actions stopped him from colliding with a row of cars in front of him.

However, to veer his lorry off the road he collided with another vehicle and the passenger sustained a fractured rib. Alex recalled: “There were four cars in front of me and someone ahead decided to turn off last minute, so the traffic stopped suddenly. I jumped on the brakes to stop and was sliding.

“I could see I was going to hit the cars in front of me so I decided to take evasive action and go into the eastbound lane, which was clear, so I could then go into the field at the side of the road. I ended up colliding with a pick-up truck which was coming the other way, and my lorry ended up in a hedge.” Alex, who has been a lorry driver for eight years and had a clean licence prior to the crash on December 10, 2022, said he feels that his decision to steer his lorry into the field likely saved lives.

He said: “My tracker had me doing 46mph before I had to suddenly brake and it’s a 50mph road. I had my eyes on the road and was paying attention – the traffic just suddenly stopped. “If I had hit the car in front of me, I would have concertinaed the cars in front and it could have been a fatal or at least caused life-changing injuries.”

Despite believing he had prevented a near-death situation, six months after the incident Alex received a letter from Avon and Somerset Police stating he was being prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “The only evidence they had was from other drivers. They didn’t do any forensics on the lorry or scene.

“If I’d had dashcam footage I could have proved it wasn’t my fault.” Alex claims he spoke to a serving road traffic officer and a retired policeman who both told him that “the best thing to do was to plead guilty and take the points and fine, as I had a clean licence.” Worried that he would lose his licence if he denied the offence and had to stand trial, he decided to plead guilty by post in response to the letter, believing that he would receive three or six points and a fine.

However, he then received a letter from Bath Magistrates Court ordering him to attend for sentencing on July 18, 2023. It was then he realised he was at risk of losing his licence. Alex’s boss offered to pay for a barrister to represent him at the sentencing and he succeeded in keeping his licence.

The magistrates gave him nine points on his licence, a fine of GBP575 with a GBP220 surcharge, and ordered him to pay GBP110 costs. Alex said: “My boss was so supportive; I was really lucky. A friend of mine recommended Protect Your Licence because they’d helped him, so I contacted them and they represented me.

“My barrister, Kevin Marland, was brilliant. He explained to the magistrates what had happened so well, and that I’d been trying to prevent a major crash by doing what I did. “He told the court that my boss had paid for my defence, which helped as it showed the magistrates that I was a good driver.

He told them that I’d never had a crash before in eight years as a lorry driver, and what losing my licence would mean. “If I’d lost my licence, I obviously would have lost my job, so I was so relieved.” Alex added: “Kevin told me from the start that I shouldn’t have pleaded guilty but, as I’d already pleaded guilty by post, all he could do was try to save my licence – and he did just that.

“My boss has been so good to me. Most companies won’t keep on a driver with more than six points on their licence because of the insurance costs, but I’m still driving for him.” Although Alex has regrets about how he handled matters after the incident, he remains convinced he did the right thing on December 10, 2022.

He said: “It was frustrating that I was given the points and fined so much when the accident wasn’t my fault. Looking back now, I realise that I never should have pleaded guilty, but at the time I was so stressed by the letter from the police and I just wanted to get the whole thing over and done with.” Kevin Marland established Protect Your Licence in 2011.

He was inspired to set up the business after seeing so many drivers let down by a poor defence in court. It offers a monthly subscription service. Members subscribe to a newsletter with helpful information on driving for GBP6, and one of the benefits of that subscription is legal support should it be needed.

Kevin, who has been a barrister since 1998, said: “This is not about making money out of defending dangerous drivers – it’s about providing justice for people like Alex who deserve to keep their licence.”