Burnley driver’s motorway horror crash

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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Burnley driver’s motorway horror crash

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A Burnley lorry driver was seriously hurt in a horror smash on the M5 motorway.

Adam Walne suffered head and back injuries when his wagon flipped over on the motorway near Portishead, Somerset last week.

The 29-year-old, who works for Padiham haulage firm Fagan and Whalley, was cut out of the wreckage of his lorry and taken to the Frenchay Hospital near Bristol on Wednesday.

Doctors said his injuries were not life-threatening and after under-going several operations his condition is now described as “stable”.

Messages of support from friends, family and members of the truck driving community flooded in on Facebook and on the official Fagan and Whalley page.

Anita Campbell said: “His friends in Burnley are all concerned and feel helpless but are praying he makes a full recovery.

“He is a strong lad, we all know that! Deep thoughts to help family stay strong and for you Adam to get fully well again as soon as possible. A hard time at the moment but you can get through it.”

Jennie Bullen posted: “Get well soon Adam we need you back in Burnley thinking of you and your mum and dad and sisters and their families. You are a strong person and very well liked by everyone you meet.”

The lorry overturned at around 7am on Wednesday between the junctions of Portishead and Clevedon in Somerset and forced the closure of the M5 motorway.

A spokesman from Fagan and Whalley said: “Following Wednesday’s accident our driver Adam Walne is in a stable condition in hospital recovering from surgery yesterday.

“Our thoughts are with Adam and his family at this time and we wish him a speedy recovery.

“We have been overwhelmed by the messages of goodwill and we thank you all again for your concern.”

Heres a link
burnleyexpress.net/news/loca … -1-6124833

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Lucky to get out of that alive. Looks like their anniversary motor

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It is the anniversary truck, Adam is the main driver of thay unit and loves it, such a great guy, hopeing he makes a speedy recovery !

MAdguy. :imp:

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A lorry driver who suffered “horrendous” injuries in a motorway crash near Portishead has been fined £225 and had five points added to his licence.

Adam Walne, of Burnley, was told by magistrates he was “lucky to be alive” when he appeared at North Somerset Courthouse, in St Georges.

The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention on October 2nd last year.

The court heard how Walne was driving the articulated vehicle on the southbound carriageway between junction 19 and 20 just before 7am when he swerved at the last minute to avoid another lorry.

Mr Michael Collins (prosecuting) said: “The defendant was proceeding behind another lorry and neglected to either slow his speed or change lanes.

“At the very last minute he swerved and struck the corner of the flatbed vehicle and the defendant also collided with a van which bounced into the central barrier and hard shoulder.

“The defendant’s vehicle tipped over and skidded down the carriageway, completely losing control, before crashing through the central barrier and coming to rest across lane four southbound and lane three northbound.”

Walne, who suffered back and neck injuries, had to be cut from the wreckage by emergency services and underwent several operations after the accident.

Walne, who represented himself in court, said: “I’m deeply sorry for the accident and all the destruction I caused.

“I didn’t know what speed the one in front of me was doing. The wagon was going a lot slower and that’s why I caught up so fast. Nevertheless, I still caused the accident that morning and if it wasn’t for the emergency services that attended, the consequences would have been a lot worse.

“Driving a lorry is my life. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was three years old.”

Walne, who works for Padiham haulage firm Fagan and Whalley, said he had no recollection of the accident.

Chairman of the Bench, Nick Baker, said: “The potential of it doesn’t bare thinking about. It seems that just one person suffered - and that was you. Not just psychologically but the horrendous physical injuries you’ve had. You are lucky to be here.

Walne was also ordered to pay £22 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
l

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Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

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Think i would have been sacked by now who i work for if i done that to one of there trucks.

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gazzad:
Think i would have been sacked by now by who i work for if I’d done that to one of their trucks.

+1

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gazzad:
Think i would have been sacked by now who i work for if i done that to one of there trucks.

Your employer doesn’t understand that human beings make human errors?

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NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

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shugg:

NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

+1

new lad does not seem have much concept of anything lorry wise. :unamused:

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shugg:

NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

This may seem harsh but I totally agree, you don’t just catch a wagon up suddenly if your watching what your doing

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I think the driver was lucky not to kill anyone, same accident same time another day he could have wiped several people out and what a weedy fine he had. Not only that he added a couple of hours onto my day due to me having to go to Bridgwater and back .

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rearaxle:
“I didn’t know what speed the one in front of me was doing. The wagon was going a lot slower and that’s why I caught up so fast.

rearaxle:
“Walne, who works for Padiham haulage firm Fagan and Whalley, said he had no recollection of the accident.

Does he? Did he or what?? How does he know if the wagon was going a lot slower if he has no recollection :open_mouth:

He screwed up and unfortunately suffered -

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For those who don’t know where the accident happened it is a long straight uphill section where some heavy lorries can be down to 40 mph so forward observation/planning is a must.

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Maniac. He should be castrated, disemboweled and had his head put on a spike at the crash site to warn others. Can you imagine how bad it would have been if he were driving a school? Carnage.

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shugg:

NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

If the other vehicle had been a coach filled with school children then there are laws to deal with that situation. The guy made a mistake, error of judgement call it what you will. He’s held his hands up. The law has dealt with him.
If everyone who made an error lost their licence for two years and had to re sit a test there’d be no one on the roads.

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Mike-C:

shugg:

NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

If the other vehicle had been a coach filled with school children then there are laws to deal with that situation. The guy made a mistake, error of judgement call it what you will. He’s held his hands up. The law has dealt with him.
If everyone who made an error lost their licence for two years and had to re sit a test there’d be no one on the roads.

Laws to deal with this would have been to late for anyone else involved , taking him off the road would be the only sensible way to deal with this particular accident , a" head in the sand attitude " is not on .

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Personally, I think the magistrates made the right call. He accepted that he was responsible for the accident, he didn’t try to deflect blame onto anybody else, he was very badly injured himself as a result of his brief moment of inattention, I can’t see that any purpose would be served by banning him from driving.

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shugg:

Mike-C:
If the other vehicle had been a coach filled with school children then there are laws to deal with that situation. The guy made a mistake, error of judgement call it what you will. He’s held his hands up. The law has dealt with him.
If everyone who made an error lost their licence for two years and had to re sit a test there’d be no one on the roads.

Laws to deal with this would have been to late for anyone else involved , taking him off the road would be the only sensible way to deal with this particular accident , a" head in the sand attitude " is not on .

Who has the head in the sand attitude? The driver held his hands up? Maybe we could have laws for what “might happen”, is that it ?

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shugg:

NewLad:
Sounds like the apriciated the fact he represented himself and held his hands up. Hope he’s ok and can get back to doing the job he loves.

NewLad I think you should have your GP check your medication , you have viewed this as if he just scraped the paint on rear under~run bar on the trailer , no wonder HGV drivers are joke , at the very least this driver should loose his licence for at least 2 years then made to re`sit his test . Just think if the other vehicle had be a coach filled with school children !!! .

At least people are thinking of the children.