Vintage rally crash: HGV driver guilty of causing death

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

A man has been found guilty of causing the death of a vintage car driver when his lorry crashed into the back of the vehicle.

Ronald Carey was taking part in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run when his car strayed onto the M23 in 2019.

Michael Black, from Crawley, was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving at Guildford Crown Court.

However, jurors found him guilty of an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving.

Black, 52, was also cleared of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after Mr Carey's wife Billi was injured in the crash.

Mr Carey, 80, had travelled from Canada to drive a 100-year-old Knox car in the rally when he turned onto the M23 at Hooley instead of staying on the A23.

Michael Black is due to be sentenced in December

The jury at Guildford Crown Court heard Black admitted making a call by tapping his phone in the seconds before the collision.

The phone rang several times but did not connect before the impact, the court head.

The jury was shown dashcam footage showing Black driving north up the M23.

The camera picked up the vintage Knox car in front and seconds later the collision happened.

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.

In the dashcam footage, Black could be seen leaving his cab after the crash, and in the 999 call he told the call handler: "I never spotted them, I never spotted them."

Giving evidence for the defence, Peter Davey, a former police officer with a forensic collision investigation unit, said the section of motorway leading up to the accident site was a long curve.

He told the jury: "Owing to the slow speed of the Knox in lane 3, the collision was inevitable."

Black is due to be sentenced on 8 December.

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