Lorry driver jailed over man's death on Thanet Way
Tests showed the 49 year old had taken cocaine before the collision
A lorry driver has been jailed after causing the death of a man on the Thanet Way in 2021.
Bradley SimmondsBradley Simmonds, 49, from West Kingsdown near Sevenoaks, was found to have taken cocaine at some point before the waste removal lorry he was driving collided with a car, near to St Nicholas at Wade. On 16 August 2021, Kent Police was called to a coastbound stretch of the A299 between Herne Bay and Birchington, where a car was in a ditch at the side of the road.
South East Coast Ambulance Service was in attendance and treated the driver of the car, who had sustained life-threatening injuries. Sadly, despite the efforts of emergency services, he was declared deceased at the scene a short while later.
Witnesses reported that the man’s car had been stationary on the road with hazard lights flashing, after it had apparently broken down on the dual carriageway.
Traffic was moving around the car and into the adjacent lane, but a waste removal lorry that was being driven by Simmonds collided with the back of the car and forced it off the road.
Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit began an investigation, which led to Simmonds being charged.
A test showed Simmonds had 11 times more than the specified limit of benzoylecgonine in his blood, a chemical which indicated he had taken cocaine prior to the fatal collision.
Simmonds pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving when over the prescribed limit, and on 14 December 2023, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court.
He was also disqualified from driving for 12 years.
Detective Constable Claire Fullagar, of Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: ‘We are grateful to the witnesses in this case who came forward and provided accounts that helped to secure the conviction of the lorry driver, whose actions on that day have changed lives forever.
‘This devastating incident has caused immeasurable grief to the victim’s family, who our specialist officers continue to support, and shows the catastrophic consequences of taking drugs.’