Van driver guilty of killing grandmother in crash on malfunctioning smart motorway

A van driver who ploughed into a broken-down car in the fast lane of a smart motorway has been convicted of killing a grandmother who died in the crash – despite the safety alert system malfunctioning.

Barry O’Sullivan, 45, was driving a grey Ford Transit Connect work van along the M4 during the morning rush hour on March 7, 2022, when he collided with a Nissan Micra that was stationary in the outside lane.

O’Sullivan was driving ‘at speed’ and the force of impact caused both vehicles to propel forward, with the Nissan bursting into flames and its passenger, Pulvinder Dhillon, suffering fatal injuries.

It was later discovered an unresolved technical failure on the smart motorway network meant alerts for broken-down vehicles were not properly communicated in the days leading up to the collision.

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’ 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.

On the day of the crash, alerts from stopped vehicle detection radars on the M4 junction eight/nine to 12 had not been communicated for five days due to a technical failure on the IT network, the trial heard.

Consequently, the network ‘wasn’t showing messages about any obstructions in the road ahead’ on the morning of the incident.

Ms Dhillon’s daughter, Rajpal Dene, turned on the hazard lights and, for about six minutes, a ‘host of vehicles’ swerved, braked and took avoiding action to negotiate it, prosecutor Ian Hope said.

The court heard that several passing motorists had also contacted the police to inform them of the stationary car.

O’Sullivan was driving his Ford van at speeds of about 74 to 80mph along that same stretch of motorway for the five seconds before the collision.

Describing the crash, Mr Hope said: ‘He essentially ploughed straight into the back of the stationary Nissan, with there being no apparent avoiding action to the naked eye.’

The prosecutor said the force of impact was ‘calamitous, with both vehicles propelled forward at high velocity’.

The Nissan burst into flames and, while Mrs Dene was ‘pulled to safety’ by other motorists, ‘nothing could be done’ to save Ms Dhillon, who died at the scene.

In an initial interview, O’Sullivan told officers that he had been driving along the outside lane when a car in front of him had swerved to the left, resulting in him seeing a stationary vehicle in front of him.

But by then it was ‘too late’ to avoid colliding with it.

Mr Hope said: ‘The Crown of course accept that the Nissan would never have been there but for a fault in the car about which we have no knowledge.

‘We similarly accept that Mr O’Sullivan is highly unlikely to have been cruising along in the fast lane in excess of 70 mph if the smart motorway system had been functioning at the time and that lane had been closed, displaying a red X, as you will all have seen on using motorways yourselves.

‘We fully accept that a driver does not expect to come upon a stationary vehicle in the outside lane of a motorway without warning but it is an unfortunate fact of life that such things do happen.’

Ian Bridge, representing O’Sullivan, told jurors that the defendant’s case is that he ‘did not cause this death’ and that an accident was ‘inevitable’.

He said: ‘Mr O’Sullivan and all the other road users were unaware that it was not working and they drove along the motorway completely oblivious to the fact that their system had been defective for that time.’

Mr Bridge said it is understood that National Highways had also not been made aware of this defect, adding that 999 and 101 calls were not passed by Thames Valley Police call handlers to the National Highways control room.

He added that this meant that no warnings could be put on the 14 gantries and lollipop signs along that stretch of the motorway.

Mr Bridge added: ‘(Ms Dhillon) was stranded for six minutes, there were 14 warning signs, none of them worked.

‘We submit… that that was the cause of this tragedy rather than any failure on his part.’

O’Sullivan told jurors: ‘I believe I drove with reasonable care like most people but unfortunately I didn’t avoid the collision and hit the vehicle and for that I’m eternally sorry.’

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