Lorry driver sentenced for crashing into police car

David Boca has been sentenced after he crashed with a stationary police car on A13

A lorry driver has been sentenced for careless driving after he crashed into a stationary police car.

David Boca, 62, crashed his lorry into the car on the A13 near Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, on 11 June.

Boca, of Torworth Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty at Colchester Magistrates' Court on 13 December.

He was given nine penalty points, fined £733 and ordered to pay costs.

'Serious damage'

On the day of the crash, police arrived after a BMW broke down on the London-bound carriageway of the A13 between the Stanford-le-Hope interchange and Orsett Cock roundabout.

Officers were waiting for a recovery vehicle to move the car and had placed a stationary police car about 115ft (35m) away.

The empty Vauxhall Astra had its emergency lights on when the HGV crashed into it.

It was then pushed on to the carriageway amid oncoming traffic.

Due to the "serious damage", police had to close the road to all motorists.

Investigating officers concluded that the HGV had decelerated from almost 29mph (47km/h) to 0mph in three seconds.

Essex Police's head of roads policing Adam Pipe said the crash was "avoidable".

He said: “A police car was positioned as both a warning and a means of creating a safety barrier between moving traffic and the breakdown, so as to prevent an incident.

“Drivers who don’t follow instructions or remain unaware of their surroundings risk putting everyone, including themselves, in danger, too."