Truck driver jailed after failing eye-test following fatal A1 crash

A 72-year-old lorry driver who failed an eye test after a fatal crash with a digger on the A1 has been jailed. John Rogerson did not spot a JCB being driven by Stephen Clarehugh, 54, south of Alnwick, Northumberland, in December 2015. The father-of-two was killed instantly in the collision as Rogerson was heading down from Scotland. The trucker, from Craig Terrace, Innerleithen, Scotland, was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court for two years and four months and disqualified from driving for more than six years. Last week he admitted causing death by dangerous driving. Northumbria Police Motor Patrols department investigated the crash and Rogerson failed a mandatory eye test after the collision. Outside court, senior investigating officer Sergeant Jason Ryder said: This was yet another avoidable death on the roads that has robbed a family of a loving father, grandfather and husband and changed their lives forever.The mandatory eye test shows that John Rogerson wasn't fit to drive and the fact that he was behind the wheel of an HGV is particularly shocking for me.'' He urged drivers who believe they may not be medically fit to drive - or their families - to think about their responsibilities to others, and to seek help. Sgt Ryder said: Too many times officers are having to speak about collisions that could have been prevented if drivers had given consideration to fellow road users.'' The victim's widow Fiona Clarehugh paid tribute to the grandfather-of-one, who was well known in the microlight community following his time as an instructor. She said:It is such a bitter irony that a man who spent thousands of hours safely teaching people to fly, in an environment thought by so many to be so dangerous, should be tragically killed in a road traffic accident - so much life, ended in the blink of an eye.'' Such was his popularity that 1,000 people attended his funeral in a hangar. She said: We will miss his humour, his loyalty, his love and his friendship, his integrity, his wisdom, his ability to do the right thing and his... mischievousness.'' ends