Horrifying moment Eddie Stobart lorry driver ploughs into queue of cars on motorway after 'falling asleep at the wheel'

Francesca Gillett3 December 2017

This is the horrifying moment an Eddie Stobart lorry driver ploughed into a queue of cars in a motorway traffic jam.

Lorry driver Mariusz Wlazlo, 47, said he fell asleep at the wheel when he smashed into two cars in front of him, leaving one woman spending weeks in hospital with a fractured back and ribs.

The fully-laden HGV was accelerating at 43mph when it crashed into two cars between junctions seven and eight on the M6.

Shocking dashcam footage released by West Midlands Police shows the lorry careering into a VW Polo which then rebounds into a Toyota Verso in front, sending it spinning in the middle of the motorway.

A rear-view dashcam from another car in the queue also records the terrifying moment the lorry came hurtling into the queue from behind.

The Eddie Stobart lorry ploughed into the two queuing cars.
West Midlands Police

The Polo driver, a woman in her 50s, spent weeks in hospital and the Toyota driver was taken to hospital with back and neck pain.

At the scene, following the crash at around 9.40pm on March 15 this year, Wlazlo told police: “I think I went to sleep for a moment. I can’t explain as I don’t remember. It was like a dream."

Wlazlo, who held a full, clean UK driving licence and had no record of motoring offences in his home country of Poland, initially denied causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Lorry driver Mariusz Wlazlo has been jailed for 16 months.
West Midlands Police

He changed his plea to guilty and was jailed for 16 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 29 November.

The driver, of Alderwood Avenue in Liverpool, was also banned from driving for three years and eight months and must take an extended re-test to get his licence back.

​Wkazlo, of Alderwood Avenue, Liverpool, was also banned from driving for three years and eight months, and ordered to take an extended re-test.

Pc Gareth Phillips said the crash had a “devastating impact on the victim in the Polo”.

“Although she has made a physical recovery, she now feels unable to drive on the motorway,” he said.

“Wlazlo was clearly not paying attention and indeed was accelerating into stationary traffic at the time of impact.

“It shows just how important it is to keep fully focussed on the road and surrounding conditions, and to always abide by the speed limit as displayed on gantry signs. If the speed he had been travelling had been any higher, this collision would likely have had fatal consequences."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in