Vintage rally death: HGV driver 'never spotted' victim's car, jury hears

Ronald Carey died while driving a vintage Knox car in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

A lorry driver told a 999 call handler "I never spotted them" after he collided with a vintage car, killing its driver, a court heard.

The jury in Michael Black's trial heard the 999 call he made seconds after the crash that killed Ronald Carey.

Mr Carey was taking part in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run when the collision happened on the M23 on 3 November 2019.

Mr Black, 52, from Crawley, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

He is also accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, after Mr Carey's wife Billi suffered head injuries in the crash.

Mr Carey had travelled from Canada to drive a 100-year-old Knox car in the famous rally when he apparently made a mistake and turned onto the M23 at Hooley instead of staying on the A23.

Dashcam footage

Jurors at Guildford Crown Court were shown dashcam footage showing Mr Black driving north up the M23 after picking up a load from the smart motorway roadworks.

He then used the Highways Agency turning point near the top of the motorway to turn south. Shortly afterwards, the camera picked up the vintage Knox car in front and seconds later the collision happened.

Mr Black could be seen leaving his cab and in the 999 call he tells the call handler: "I never spotted them, I never spotted them."

He could also be heard shouting "look out" as other vehicles approach the scene.

'Going at 21mph'

PC Jo Robins, from the Surrey Police Collision Investigation Unit, told the jury that when she reviewed the dashcam footage, the Knox was potentially in view for 14 seconds.

She said the unit's calculations showed that the vintage car was travelling at 21mph. The truck was driving at 53mph.

Experts at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu had told accident investigators the top speed for a Knox was 27mph.

A vehicle can travel on a motorway if it is able to travel at 25mph on the flat - so it was legal for the Knox to be on the motorway, jurors heard.

PC Robins added that two other cars filmed by the truck's dashcam had overtaken the truck then manoeuvred around the Knox.

But, she said, the truck only swerved around a second prior to impact.

The court heard Mr Black had admitted making a phone call just before the crash. Prosecutor Scott Brady asked the expert witness: "In your view does that have an impact?"

PC Robins replied: "In my view he likely would have been interacting with his phone while the Knox was in view."

The trial continues.

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