An 81-year-old grandad caused the death of his wife following a tragic crash between his car and a petrol tanker.
Devoted husband John Collins was probably briefly distracted by goings on at or near a garden centre close to the roundabout where the crash happened. He has been spared jail following the tragedy.
Collins quickly realised his error and tried to correct his “overshooting” of a bend – but it was too late, Hull Live reports.
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His wife, aged 79, died eight days later from complications arising from her injuries. The court was told Collins will have to live with the consequences of his lapse in concentration.
Collins, of Buttermere Road in Goole, admitted causing the death of his wife, Carol, by careless driving. He was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving but his guilty plea to the lesser offence was accepted by the prosecution.
Tragic details of the crash were heard in court. Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, said Collins was driving a blue Honda Jazz on the A1079 York Road at Shiptonthorpe at around 2.45pm on December 14, 2021. His wife was in the passenger seat and they were returning from visiting their son and his family in Pocklington.
(Image: Hull Daily Mail)
Collins was driving on a stretch of road near Langlands Garden Centre, McDonald’s and a petrol station when tragedy struck. The new layout includes a roundabout that leaves the garden centre in a cul-de-sac instead of a previous continuing straight road.
The new road arrangement had been in operation for about 20 months at the time of the accident and Collins was familiar with it. As he approached the area near the garden centre, he failed to take a left-hand bend and was, in effect, taking the line of the old straight road.
His car was on the wrong side of the road and hit a petrol tanker carrying 19,000 litres of fuel travelling in the opposite direction. This was despite Collins realising his error in “overshooting” the bend.
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“We are dealing with a matter of seconds,” said Mr Evans. “We are talking about two-and-a-half seconds.”
The car was badly damaged and a passing paramedic gave first aid to Mrs Collins, who had been in the passenger seat. She was taken to hospital but died eight days later, on December 22, 2021. She had, as a heavy smoker, suffered bronchopneumonia but her injuries were a complicating factor in her death. The injuries included broken ribs and vertabrae and a fractured left knee.
Alex Menary, mitigating, said the impact of the accident on the family had been profound, adding: “The ripples are significant and continue to spread.”
Collins had been driving for 61 years and had a blameless driving record except from a couple of speeding convictions. “The impact of this accident is that he lost his life partner of many years,” said Mr Menary. “He has now been living with this and what happened for two years.”
If Collins had continued driving in a straight line after overshooting the bend, he would have passed the tanker and the crash would have been avoided. “The standard of driving was not the worst,” said Mr Menary.
“He has been driving in the two years since and there have been repeats and no further accidents.” The couple’s only son, Steve Collins, told the court that he himself had two children, aged 27 and 25, and a grandchild, aged 11 months – meaning that John Collins was a great-grandfather.
“He is quite an independent guy,” said the son. “We have gone through a lot as a family. We find it incredible that it has taken so long to get to this stage.
He said the “slow” court process had been “slightly frustrating.” Judge Mark Bury said that the road in the area near the garden centre had been relaid to allow traffic from there to come in and out more safely. Collins would have regularly driven on the new road.
“I don’t accept that it was simply the road layout that caused this tragic accident,” said Judge Bury. “Your attention was distracted by something going on either at or near the garden centre and you were looking that way.
“As a consequence, you failed to take the left-hand bend and it looked as though you were just following the line of the old road. Coming in the opposite direction was a fuel tanker.
“Belatedly, you realised that you were on the wrong side of the road and tried to take evasive action. That resulted in a head-on collision with the petrol tanker. In the passenger seat was your wife. She was taken to hospital.
“You will have to live with the knowledge that her premature death was caused by your poor driving. You were involved in a brief but avoidable distraction. This wasn’t simply a momentary lapse in concentration.
“You weren’t committing any road offences. You weren’t speeding. Because of a lapse in concentration, which was more than momentary, this tragic accident happened.
“There is no public interest in sending you to prison immediately.” Collins was given a six-month suspended prison sentence, with no other requirements.
He was banned from driving for one year and will have to pass an extended retest before he can drive legally again.
After the hearing, Steve Collins was given an opportunity to pay tribute to his mother on behalf of the family or for him or his father to comment on the case but he declined to do so.
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