M1 driver jailed for causing death of PC Mark Goodlad

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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A lorry driver has been jailed for causing the death of a police officer when his vehicle strayed on to the hard shoulder of a motorway.

PC Mark Goodlad, 41, of Goole, East Yorkshire, was helping a stranded motorist when he was killed on the M1 near Wakefield in October 2011.

Andrew Abernethy, 45, of Rembrandt Walk, Oldham, previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

A judge at Leeds Crown Court jailed him for two years and nine months.

“Start Quote

Mark died doing what he did best. He was a hero at work and a hero at home to his family”

End Quote Helen Goodlad Widow

PC Goodlad had been an officer with West Yorkshire Police for 10 years. He left a widow, Helen, and a teenage son, Ben.

In a statement, Mrs Goodlad said: "We all know that Mr Abernethy did not set out that day with the intention of taking a life. But it’s without doubt that he is solely responsible for the death of my husband Mark.

"Mark wasn’t just a part of my life, he was my life. There are no words to describe how much I love and miss him.

"He never overlooked any opportunity to help people because that’s why he joined the force and that’s why he found himself that day, at the side of a lady needing help.

“Mark died doing what he did best. He was a hero at work and a hero at home to his family.”
Eye pain

After veering on to the hard shoulder, Abernethy’s lorry trapped PC Goodlad between his police car and another vehicle.

Last month, when Abernethy pleaded guilty, Leeds Crown Court heard how it had still not been established why the crash happened.

Prosecutors said the incident showed classic signs of being a “sleep-related” collision but investigators found no evidence Abernethy had worked excessive hours or not slept.

The court heard that the defendant maintained he was distracted because he had a pain in his eye.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-20442822

2

Very sad for all involved. :frowning:

3

Yes very sad. Not related to this incident but I’m still amazed how casual people are on the hard shoulder.

4

should have been 10 years and banned for life

5

I have noticed the the RAC and AA are parking a Lot further back on the hard shoulder lately, with wheels turned to the verge.

6

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

And the same for any Traffic Police officer who stops a motorist on the hard shoulder of the motorway to ticket him for a minor offence. I see this every day. Surely the Police must know that parking their vehicle on the hard shoulder is 100x more dangerous than the Ford Mondeo driver not wearing a seatbelt?

7

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

Because his life’s not been ruined enough already?

8

have you been drinking tonight harry?the hard shoulder isnt somwhere you can just drive along if your bored,you wouldnt just drift into the middle lane for no reason or into the path of other vehicles on an A road,if your tired STOP,if you have a pain in your eye see a doctor,dont kill that poor kids dad,he wasnt watching blue lights on the hardshoulder and drifted towards them,maybe reading a text or seting a satnav,i cant see the point in trying to justify what he did.

Harry Monk:

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

And the same for any Traffic Police officer who stops a motorist on the hard shoulder of the motorway to ticket him for a minor offence. I see this every day. Surely the Police must know that parking their vehicle on the hard shoulder is 100x more dangerous than the Ford Mondeo driver not wearing a seatbelt?

9

are you a ■■■■■■■■■■■ he killed that kids dad you

dukeofdirt:

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

Because his life’s not been ruined enough already?

======================

Attack the post by all means, but NOT the person. dd.

10

This has got to be the only job in the world that pays less than £10 per hour wages and one moments lack of concentration can cause you to end up killing someone and end up in jail.

11

strongbowpeter:
are you a [zb]■■? he killed that kids dad you

dukeofdirt:

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

Because his life’s not been ruined enough already?

However investigators found no evidence Abernethy had worked excessive hours or not slept.

The court heard that the defendant maintained he was distracted because he had a pain in his eye.

Judge Scott Wolstenholme said with no evidence to support the prosecution’s theory, he had to sentence on the basis of the defendant’s version of events.

He told Abernethy: “You hadn’t been paying attention to the road for a considerable period of time in driving terms, all the while, trundling along in that enormous truck at 50mph.”

Generally known as a road accident, as the lady said, he didn’t go out to kill anyone :unamused:

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Wheel Nut:

strongbowpeter:
are you a [zb]■■? he killed that kids dad you

dukeofdirt:

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

Because his life’s not been ruined enough already?

However investigators found no evidence Abernethy had worked excessive hours or not slept.

The court heard that the defendant maintained he was distracted because he had a pain in his eye.

Judge Scott Wolstenholme said with no evidence to support the prosecution’s theory, he had to sentence on the basis of the defendant’s version of events.

He told Abernethy: “You hadn’t been paying attention to the road for a considerable period of time in driving terms, all the while, trundling along in that enormous truck at 50mph.”

Generally known as a road accident, as the lady said, he didn’t go out to kill anyone :unamused:

But it does help if the wagon can be kept between the lines ( and preferably in lane 2 if something is on the hard shoulder ) not over them for the wages.If a driver lets the thing cross those lines and then hits something or someone the excuse of accident (rightly) won’t work regardless of how unlucky the driver was if there just happens to be someone in the way.

13

When someone dies on the road. Someone has to go to jail, just the way it goes.

14

Hiya…i’ve just had a read trough this site.YES i feel very sorry for everyone involved.
going back a few years about 1974 i’d driven north up the M1 from Jct 28 towards leeds,
i was in a s39 Foden and followed one of Yardleys Fodens all the way at 60mph, i was a couple of
hundred yards behind this lorry. all of a sudden Bang the lorry infront had a front wheel blowout
just before a bridge and infact he hit the bridge stanchen (in centre reservation) very hard.
why at that moment…why NOT 10 meters earlier OR later. we had done maybe 60 miles
but the blowout had to happen at that moment WHY that moment. and WHY this happend
to this driver when he had to veer off WHY that moment WHY not 5 seconds later.
as i said its a very sorry story but know one know where know how can say WHY that moment.
very very sad.
John

15

Apparantly there is a syndrome where heavy vehicles have struck others parked on the hardshoulder and despite stringent investigations no reason has come forward as to why, all the usual possibilities have been looked into such as tiredness, using phones etc and rejected.

Boffins say it could be something like momentary fixation where the driver is drawn towards the stopped vehicle yet his brain is telling him to move into line with this vehicle and follow it, something HGV drivers do more than other drivers is to return to the lane they have been in after overtaking, count how many times you will pass and move back into the lane during a days driving, its conditioned into a lorry driver.

Again how many times have you went somewhere and usually on a well trodden route, an hour or two later not remember passing the usual places. They believe some drivers, and they can’t explain why yet, go through a phase like an automaton (bit like being on a Scalextrix track) and only when its too late they realise the vehicle or vehicles infront are stopped. Not saying of course this happened in this case but some collisions do defy explanation even by survivors or those accused. All sad no matter what the cause and whether you think two years is not enough or not just hope it doesn’t happen to you sometime!

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strongbowpeter:
have you been drinking tonight harry?the hard shoulder isnt somwhere you can just drive along if your bored,you wouldnt just drift into the middle lane for no reason or into the path of other vehicles on an A road,if your tired STOP,if you have a pain in your eye see a doctor,dont kill that poor kids dad,he wasnt watching blue lights on the hardshoulder and drifted towards them,maybe reading a text or seting a satnav,i cant see the point in trying to justify what he did.

Harry Monk:

strongbowpeter:
should have been 10 years and banned for life

And the same for any Traffic Police officer who stops a motorist on the hard shoulder of the motorway to ticket him for a minor offence. I see this every day. Surely the Police must know that parking their vehicle on the hard shoulder is 100x more dangerous than the Ford Mondeo driver not wearing a seatbelt?

did you read what he wrote?

17

3300John:
Hiya…i’ve just had a read trough this site.YES i feel very sorry for everyone involved.going back a few years about 1974 i’d driven north up the M1 from Jct 28 towards leeds,i was in a s39 Foden and followed one of Yardleys Fodens all the way at 60mph, i was a couple ofhundred yards behind this lorry. all of a sudden Bang the lorry infront had a front wheel blowout
just before a bridge and infact he hit the bridge stanchen (in centre reservation) very hard.why at that moment…why NOT 10 meters earlier OR later. we had done maybe 60 miles but the blowout had to happen at that moment WHY that moment. and WHY this happendto this driver when he had to veer off WHY that moment WHY not 5 seconds later.as i said its a very sorry story but know one know where know how can say WHY that moment.very very sad.John

because it happens for a reason! Rip! :cry: too many Richard heads, who can’t take responsibility for their OWN actions and then lie to get out of trouble! My guess his " eye pain " was fiddling with his phone / satnav! :open_mouth: :unamused: and guess what■■? We’ll never know the TRUTH! :bulb: :question:

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Fatboy slimslow:

3300John:
Hiya…i’ve just had a read trough this site.YES i feel very sorry for everyone involved.going back a few years about 1974 i’d driven north up the M1 from Jct 28 towards leeds,i was in a s39 Foden and followed one of Yardleys Fodens all the way at 60mph, i was a couple ofhundred yards behind this lorry. all of a sudden Bang the lorry infront had a front wheel blowout
just before a bridge and infact he hit the bridge stanchen (in centre reservation) very hard.why at that moment…why NOT 10 meters earlier OR later. we had done maybe 60 miles but the blowout had to happen at that moment WHY that moment. and WHY this happendto this driver when he had to veer off WHY that moment WHY not 5 seconds later.as i said its a very sorry story but know one know where know how can say WHY that moment.very very sad.John

because it happens for a reason! Rip! :cry: too many Richard heads, who can’t take responsibility for their OWN actions and then lie to get out of trouble! My guess his " eye pain " was fiddling with his phone / satnav! :open_mouth: :unamused: and guess what■■? We’ll never know the TRUTH! :bulb: :question:

ffs…and the police wouldnt have investigated all what you said thourghly…they will not have left any single doubt before they went to court , hence why its taken so long

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mad-max:

Fatboy slimslow:

3300John:
Hiya…i’ve just had a read trough this site.YES i feel very sorry for everyone involved.going back a few years about 1974 i’d driven north up the M1 from Jct 28 towards leeds,i was in a s39 Foden and followed one of Yardleys Fodens all the way at 60mph, i was a couple ofhundred yards behind this lorry. all of a sudden Bang the lorry infront had a front wheel blowout
just before a bridge and infact he hit the bridge stanchen (in centre reservation) very hard.why at that moment…why NOT 10 meters earlier OR later. we had done maybe 60 miles but the blowout had to happen at that moment WHY that moment. and WHY this happendto this driver when he had to veer off WHY that moment WHY not 5 seconds later.as i said its a very sorry story but know one know where know how can say WHY that moment.very very sad.John

because it happens for a reason! Rip! :cry: too many Richard heads, who can’t take responsibility for their OWN actions and then lie to get out of trouble! My guess his " eye pain " was fiddling with his phone / satnav! :open_mouth: :unamused: and guess what■■? We’ll never know the TRUTH! :bulb: :question:

ffs…and the police wouldnt have investigated all what you said thourghly…they will not have left any single doubt before they went to court , hence why its taken so long

Leeds Crown Court heard how it had still not been established why the crash happened.

But some of the posters on Trucknet could :open_mouth:

20

Wheel Nut:

mad-max:

Leeds Crown Court heard how it had still not been established why the crash happened.

But some of the posters on Trucknet could :open_mouth:

Supermarket RDC waiting room, Club Car on the shuttle, TruckNet… :wink: :wink: :wink: