Hands-free phone driver convicted of causing death by dangerous driving

A lorry driver who caused a fatal accident during a hands-free mobile phone call was jailed for four-and-a-half years yesterday.

Road safety groups responded by calling for a blanket ban on phone calls at the wheel.

Haulier Mervyn Richmond, 49, had been talking to his mother for 23 minutes using the Bluetooth connection in his cab.

Lincoln Crown Court heard he concentrated on the conversation to the point of being 'oblivious to all around him' and failed to spot a line of stationary traffic on the straight dual carriageway ahead.

Richmond's Scania HGV ran into the back of a Transit van without braking – killing its passenger, father-of-two Michael Buston in March last year.

Last night, after a jury took an hour to convict him of causing death by dangerous driving, safety experts called for the ban on handheld mobile phones at the wheel to be extended to hands-free calls.

Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: 'When you are using any mobile while driving you are four times more likely to have an accident.'

He added that the conversation is the problem as drivers get 'more involved in that and pay less and less attention to the road'.

The court heard the tragedy unfolded after driver Andrejz Matkowski stopped at the side of the A631 at Corringham, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, to consult a map.

Mr Buston, 36, a utilities company worker of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, was killed in the 'concertina collision' as traffic built up behind the car, while his brother-in-law, Peter Long, was also badly injured.

The scene of the accident after lorry driver Mervyn Richmond crashed into the back of a line of stationary traffic on the A631 at Corringham, Lincs

Mr Matkowski's arms were both sliced off by the force of the impact.

Robert Underwood, prosecuting, told the court that although the road was a 'poor place' for Mr Matkowski to stop, it could not excuse Richmond's driving.

The court heard Richmond was so distracted he ignored a driver who flashed his lights to indicate he could pull into the outside lane to avoid the obstruction ahead.

He blamed sunlight reflecting off his mirror for failing to notice the queue of traffic ahead.

Mr Underwood told the jury: 'Rather than braking in anticipation of what was ahead, his lorry was actually speeding up at the point at which it ran into the back of the Transit.'

Tragic: Michael Buston, 36, was killed in the collision

Richmond, of Speedwell Close, Oakwood, Derby, was banned from the road for five years and ordered to retake his driving test.

Sentencing, Recorder David Farrell QC told the haulier he had been 'avoidably distracted' and made the call through boredom.

Outside court, Peter Long, 51, Michael Buston's father-in-law, whose son, also Peter, was badly hurt in the crash, also called for the hands-free kits to be banned.

'At the end of the day this man has ruined many lives, all because he was using his mobile while driving,' he said.

In January 2007, lorry driver Robert Murray received an identical sentence for causing the death of two schoolgirls.

Stafford Crown Court was told the crash on the A38 near Burton-upon-Trent happened as Murray was putting his phone on charge after a conversation with his wife.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS ON MOBILES

It has been an offence to use handheld mobile phones at the wheel since 2003.

Since February last year guilty drivers face a fixed penalty of £60, with three penalty points on their licence.

If a case goes to court, drivers can additionally be banned or fined a maximum of £1,000 (£2,500 in the case of bus/coach or goods vehicle).

Drivers can also be prosecuted for using a hands-free device if not in proper control of the vehicle.

Although it is legal to push buttons to answer or end a call on a mounted phone, campaigners argue drivers can still be distracted during this process.

It is illegal to hold a phone while driving, or use one while waiting in traffic.

Employers can also be prosecuted if they require employees to make or Mervyn Richmond receive mobile calls while driving.