Smart motorway deaths: Driver given suspended jail term

The lorry driver had a lapse in concentration, the inquest was told

A fatal crash would have been prevented had there been a hard shoulder on a "smart motorway", a judge said.

Sevim Üstün, 49, and Ayşe Üstün, 68, were killed when a lorry hit the car they had been travelling in on the M25 near Waltham Abbey, Essex.

Their Audi A3 had been stationary after pulling over to fix a punctured tyre.

Krzysztof Zarebski, 35, of Gordon Street, Coventry, was given a four-month jail term suspended for 12 months for causing death by careless driving.

A 10-year-old girl was also seriously injured in the crash, which Judge Charles Gratwicke said had been "devastating" for the Üstün family.

Zarebski, who must complete 200 hours unpaid work and was disqualified from driving for 12 months, had about four seconds to react to seeing the car which had its hazard lights on, the court heard.

Apology to family

Judge Gratwicke said the Polish lorry driver had had a "momentary lapse in concentration" which had led to the vehicle hitting the car and safety barriers, behind which the family had been sheltering.

He said: "I accept that if there had been a hard shoulder or a refuge into which Mr Üstün [husband of Sevim and son of Ayşe] could have steered that collision would not have occurred.

"However it is not for this court to make any judgements or observations on the wisdom of smart motorways or the strength of safety barriers."

Benjamin Waidhofer, for Zarebski, said he was "remorseful" for the fatal crash and wanted to apologise to the family.

After the crash, Orhan Gürbüz, from Dunstable, whose uncle's wife and mother were killed in the crash, said it had been "very devastating" for the family.