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A lorry driver has been given a suspended prison sentence after driving into a car on the hard shoulder of the M4 motorway.
Francis Nailor admitted dangerous driving and failing to stop after shunting a vehicle off the road on March 21 last year.
The 82-year-old, of Small Lane, Stapleton, was given a six-month jail sentence – suspended for a year – at a hearing at Swindon Crown Court on May 4.
Video footage of the incident was released by Wiltshire Police following the hearing, which showed the moment of impact near the Leigh Delamere service station.
A car – a Hyundai – had pulled over with its hazard lights on after suffering a flat tyre before it was struck by Nailor’s 44-tonne articulated lorry.
The vehicle was shunted off the road into a ditch while Nailor, who initially appeared to slow down, drove off.
He was later intercepted by police at junction 15 and arrested.
‘Incredibly dangerous’
PC Alan King, of Wiltshire Police, said: “This was an incredibly dangerous incident, in the dark, and it is only the good will of those members of public who put themselves at risk that there were no serious injuries or fatalities as a result of this.
“If they had not driven ahead to warn the occupants of the Hyundai, we would have had a far more tragic incident on our hands.
“Driving on the hard shoulder, unless instructed to do so by traffic police officers of the Highways Agency or as part of roadworks, is illegal and this incident just highlights the dangers.
“Drivers should only stop on the hard shoulder in an emergency and we’d always ask drivers to leave the vehicle on the left-hand side and to wait in a safe place behind a barrier or on an embankment away from the vehicle.”
