Family of victim killed in A303 crash ask drivers to put down phones
Alex Britton, 28, from Fifth Avenue, Portsmouth, Tina Ince, 58, from Lydgate Road, Southampton, and Tom Watson, 30, from Cheriton Avenue, Southampton were killed in a catastrophic incident on the A303 near Andover in August 2021.
Alex’s car broke down on the westbound carriageway and Tina and Tom both stopped to offer her assistance.
But a lorry driver, who was watching videos and typing in his destination on his phone, did not see the three cars stopped ahead of him and crashed into them.
The driver, Michal Kopaniarz, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing all three of them.
Aaron and Alex (Image: Hampshire Constabulary)
Now Alex’s family have come forward to plead with motorists to put their phone away while driving.
Aaron Law, Alex’s fiancée and father to her two young children, said: “One of the most devastating things I’ve ever done is break the news to my, at the time, three-year-old daughter that her mummy wasn’t coming back home.
“Being only three we thought she would find it hard to understand, but instantly she grasped what was going on and she broke down in tears.
“I never planned to raise two children by myself. We planned to do it as a family. I now struggle every day with simple tasks. There’s just certain things that I can’t teach them, that mummy would have taught them.”
The news comes as police launch a month of action against drivers committing ‘Fatal Four’ offences.
The Fatal Four are the four main causes of deaths on roads. They are impairment from drink or drugs, distraction including mobile phones, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.
Michal Kopaniarz, of Park Road, Donnington, Shropshire (Image: Hampshire Constabulary)
Ian Britton, Alex’s father, added: “She’s always in our thoughts, we have times when we’ll sit here and think about some of the good times we had, and then also think about the day.
“I’ve now had to get counselling to deal with the grief, no one should ever have to bury their children before them.”
SEE ALSO: A303 Andover crash: Lorry driver jailed for 12 years[2]
Avril Swain, Alex’s mother, sad that the incident has changed the families lives forever.
She said: “When I actually found out that he had been on his phone… unimaginable, actually, that somebody in charge of that huge lorry would take his eyes off the road to look at his phone.”
She continued: “If anybody is thinking about even peeking at their phone whilst driving, just don’t. Whatever it is, it can wait until the end of your journey or, if it is some emergency, pull over. Please don’t drive whilst being on your phone.”
Roads policing officers will be out in force with increased patrols across Hampshire and Isle of Wight for the whole month of April, as part of a national campaign to target motorists who are committing these offences.
Detective Constable Mark Furse, who was the family liaison officer for Alex’s relatives, said: “This was a terrible incident where three people lost their lives because of one man’s selfish actions.
References
- ^ Families pay tribute to their loved ones as lorry driver is jailed (www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk)
- ^ A303 Andover crash: Lorry driver jailed for 12 years (www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk)
- ^ A303 Andover crash: Lorry driver pleads guilty of killing motorists (www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk)