Van driver is found guilty of causing death by careless driving after killing grandmother when he crashed into her broken down car on ‘defective’ smart motorway
By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER[2]
Published: 13:06, 18 February 2026 | Updated: 13:21, 18 February 2026
A van driver has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving after he crashed into a broken down car on a smart motorway[3] where the safety alert system was malfunctioning.
Barry O'Sullivan, 45, was convicted at Reading Crown Court over the death of Pulvinder Dhillon, who was travelling as a passenger in her daughter's Nissan Micra on the westbound M4 in Berkshire in March 2022.
The trial heard how safety technology had been 'defective for five days' and that National Highways, which maintains the roads, was apparently 'unaware'.
It meant drivers were not warned on 14 gantries and lollipop signs of the broken down Nissan ahead.
Smart motorways have no hard shoulder because they have been turned into an extra lane of traffic, with safety technology designed to mitigate this.
Jurors were told on Monday that alerts from stopped vehicle detection (SVD) radars on the M4 between junctions 8/9 and 12 had not been communicated since March 2, 2022, because of the technical failure.
Ian Bridge, representing O'Sullivan, read extracts from a National Highways investigation report commissioned after the fatal collision.
'The SVD was available between the 2nd of March to the 7th of March 2022, but the communication failure meant alerts were not presented to the regional operations centre operators', the report said.
Pulvinder Dhillon, 68, was a passenger in her daughter's Nissan Micra when it stopped in a live lane of traffic on a section of the M4 with no hard shoulder in March 2022
Barry O'Sullivan (pictured at Reading Crown Court on February 2) has now been found guilty of causing death by careless driving
The report also suggested a broken down vehicle had been detected by radars on the day of the crash but 'did not meet the waiting criteria to raise an alert'.
'The accuracy or completeness of this entry has been unable to be checked by suitably qualified person with access to the records,' it added.
Jurors have previously been told it took two hours and 29 minutes to fix the problem with the smart motorway system after the collision.
The first call from a member of the public to Thames Valley Police reporting the stranded vehicle was made at 8.37am on the day of the crash.
The highways authority was informed shortly after 8.41am.
That was said to be four minutes and 12 seconds after the police call began.
The Nissan had been stationary in the fast lane for six minutes before the collision, the court heard.
O'Sullivan, from Wixhams near Bedford, was driving his Ford van at between about 74mph and 80mph in the fast lane of the M4 westbound in the five seconds before the impact.
The collision happened on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12 in Berkshire (above)
Giving evidence, the defendant told jurors the crash 'wouldn't have happened' if he had been 'forewarned'.
He said that when he first saw the vehicle in the fast lane, he 'didn't perceive it to be a hazard' and 'perceived it to be moving'.
He told the court: 'All of a sudden I realised I'm gaining on this vehicle really fast, then I went to slam the brakes on and then before I knew it the collision happened.'
A roadside breath test and drug test was later administered and O'Sullivan had a zero reading for alcohol and no cocaine or cannabis was detected.
He pleaded not guilty to one count of causing death by careless driving.
Defence lawyers argued O'Sullivan could not have caused the death of Ms Dhillon because the crash was 'inevitable' given that the car was stationary in the fast lane and the smart motorway was not displaying any warning signs to other motorists.
While acknowledging 'something went wrong' with the motorway's safety alert system, the prosecution argued O'Sullivan still caused the death of Ms Dhillon by driving carelessly and 'at speed'.
He did not pick up on 'cues' that the vehicle was stationary, including the fact other motorists were taking steps to avoid the broken-down Nissan, the prosecution told jurors during the trial.
The panel found O'Sullivan guilty on one of one count of causing death by careless driving, having deliberated for more than six hours.
A preliminary sentencing date has been set for April 24.
A National Highways spokesperson said: 'Any death on our roads is one too many and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Pulvinder Dhillon following this tragic incident.
'While nothing can ever compensate for their loss, the person responsible has been found guilty of driving carelessly.'
References
- ^ the crash (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ smart motorway (www.dailymail.co.uk)