Lorries account for around 5% of all transport on Britain's roads, and according to the Department for Transport, lorries drove 16.3 billion vehicle miles in the 12 months ending March 2026. Lorry drivers play a vital role in daily life, transporting everything from clothes and food to livestock and bulky machinery. In the UK, standard lorries can weigh up to 44 tonnes, and their size makes them deadly in the wrong hands. When a lorry is involved in an accident, it is usually the other party who pays the highest price. This is not uncommon, as 3,517 crashes involving HGVs were reported in Britain last year. In Merseyside and Cheshire, six HGV drivers should never have gotten behind the wheel.
Jack Haddow
Jack Haddow admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was watching TikTok videos on his phone when he ploughed his 44-tonne HGV into the back of a couple's car on the M6, causing it to veer into the central reservation. Kevin and Deborah Prescott were travelling home from Manchester Airport on April 1 2025. Driving northbound on a 40mph stretch between junction 22 at Winwick, Warrington, and junction 23 at Haydock, Haddow crashed into the back of their Jaguar at 50mph. Haddow, 29, of Wood Close in Kirkham, Lancashire, claimed the couple's car had slowed down in front of him and maintained he had attempted to change lane to avoid a collision. He said he had been "listening to TikTok live performance of a singer" and stated he had "never touched his phone", with the device apparently being left at the bottom of his rucksack. But an analysis of his iPhone 15 subsequently found that the handset had been unlocked 21 times in the two hours before the crash.
Cevdet Saygi
Cevdet Saygi performed a U-turn into the opposite carriageway while driving his wagon along the East Lancs Road, resulting in a fatal crash. Motorcyclist Kevin Bannon was seriously injured after colliding with Saygi's refuse lorry at around 6.30am on May 9 2024. Saygi admitted causing death by careless driving. Appearing in the dock in May 2026, he was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for two years with 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days.
Anthony Burns
Anthony Burns was said to have "switched off" before he smashed his HGV into the back of an Uber and killed two Ryanair pilots. Jamie Fernandes, 24, and Matthew Greenhalgh, 28, died when the taxi which was taking them to Liverpool John Lennon Airport was crushed between two lorries. The incident took place on the westbound carriageway of the M62 at around 1.30am on July 10 2024. The Uber the two victims were travelling in had come to a stop at the end of a queue approaching junction eight at Warrington West. Moments later, Burns, of Headington Road in Upton, Wirral, crashed into them. Both Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh were fatally injured in the crash, and Uber driver Rashid Mehmood suffered a broken shoulder. Burns was not found to have been using his mobile phone at the time and was not under the influence of drink or drug, and "provided no explanation for his manner of driving".
Neil Platt
Neil Platt, 43, of Daniel Close, Bootle, Merseyside, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving. Platt was looking at pornography on his phone just seconds before he killed a dad of two in a horror motorway crash. Photographs of naked women appeared on Platt's social media feed moments before his HGV ploughed into the back of Danny Aitchison's Hyundai Kona on the M58 in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on May 17 2024. Mr Aitchison, who was stationary in his vehicle at the end of a queue, was killed instantly as his car was shunted into the rear of a tanker. Platt, of Daniel Close, Bootle, was travelling at 54mph before the collision, breaking only 1.5 seconds before impact.
Alec Keiran
Alec Keiran, 52, of Daisy Meadow, in Bamber Bridge, pleaded guilty to the offence at a previous hearing and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. Keiran hit and killed a sleeping woman with his lorry after mistaking her for a bin bag and a folded duvet. Nicole Cummings, 24, was sleeping rough outside the Shell garage on Scotland Road, Everton, on August 10 2023 when she was hit by Keiran, who had mounted the kerb in his Volvo truck. Keiran, of Daisy Meadow in Bamber Bridge, was making deliveries to Spa shops around Merseyside when he attempted to turn left from Scotland Road onto Wilbraham Street, and into the petrol station forecourt at around 8.30am. He cut across the pavement where Nicole was lying, causing catastrophic injuries.
Daniel Barlow
Daniel Barlow killed a 19-year-old woman and seriously injured two others after crashing into their stationary car on the M6 on December 2, 2022. Barlow, of Railway Close, Whitworth, was driving a white DAF truck northbound on the M6 between junctions 16 and 17 when he crashed into the back of a grey Volkswagen Polo, where victim Chloe Williams was sitting. The Polo had come to a stop at the end of a queue when Barlow crashed into it at 55mph. Chloe was fatally injured, while two other car occupants suffered multiple serious injuries, including broken legs and a fractured skull. Barlow denied causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, but was found guilty following a three-day trial at Chester Crown Court.
