Lorry driver who blamed fatal crash on cough exposed by dashcam

This is the moment a lorry driver who claimed a coughing fit caused him to drift on to the wrong side of the road and crash into another HGV was caught out, because his dashcam was also recording audio.

Footage from Mariusz Korkosz's cab showed him driving incorrectly on a Caerphilly industrial estate for almost 20 seconds, before colliding head-on with a truck driven by Gary Rees, who later died.

Korkosz did not realise his camera recorded sound, but still insisted it should have captured the violent coughing which made him "black out" and become disoriented.

Father-of-two Mr Rees, 55, had to be cut free from the cab of his lorry, following the crash in July 2022, and was treated for injuries to his head and leg, as well as broken fingers.

Mr Rees appeared to be making a recovery from his injuries, but died three weeks later.

A police investigation, filmed for BBC series The Crash Detectives, revealed in the moments before the impact, Korkosz could only be heard swearing, and was jailed for 20 weeks.

Dash cameras were recording in both vehicles, and analysis revealed that as Mr Rees saw the other truck, heading straight for him, he reacted immediately.

The hazard warning lights could be seen flashing, indicating he was emergency braking, with corresponding locked wheel marks discovered on the road surface at the scene of the collision.

His hand was on the top of the steering wheel, as he pulled to the left in a desperate attempt to avoid the impact.

But this evasive action was in sharp contrast to the driver who had been on the incorrect side of the road.

Korkosz had just dropped off a delivery, and described having bouts of acute coughing as he headed back towards the main road.

While his dashcam captured the sounds of the engine, the sat nav and the indicator ticking, there was no coughing to be heard , just a burst of expletives as he realised the collision was about to occur.

Video edited by Tink Llewellyn

The full investigation can be seen on Crash Detectives: Silent Witness at 19:00 GMT, Wednesday, 5 November, on BBC One Wales, BBC Two England, and BBC iPlayer