Publications
Partners
A son has made the bold decision to share shocking dash cam footage, which shows his father dying because of a sleeping driver.
Ash Wakefield shared the video on his Facebook timeline, two years after his father’s tragic death, in the hope of raising awareness about getting behind the wheel when you’re tired.
David Wakefield (71) lost his life when Christopher Trusler dozed off behind the wheel of the truck he was driving and crashed into David’s vehicle.
Christopher had been working a 14-hour shift and was back on his way to start a new one for the day ahead.
The footage, taken by a car driving behind David, shows the vehicles driving on a road in Oxfordshire, England.
After taking a bend, a truck diverts from the designated lane in the road and slams into David’s white van before landing on the bonnet of another car.
Soon after the crash, motorists run to the scene to help those involved.
“In my opinion, both are equally responsible for Dad’s death, as they should never have asked or let their driver do so many hours. It’s made even worse by him driving a motor vehicle!” reads the Facebook post by Ash.
He further expressed his disappointment at the sentence handed down to Christopher following his reckless driving.
“’Chris Robert Trusler’ was sentenced to two years imprisonment for Death by Dangerous Driving and received a four-year driving ban.
“Sadly, due to our justice system, he has been released after serving only 364 days.”
Centurion Traffic Management, the company for which Christopher was working at the time, said in a statement that they held no responsibility for the accident.
“The police, who thoroughly investigated the incident and the events leading up to the accident, found that Mr Trusler's working hours were consistent with Working Time Regulations,” reads a statement Ash shared on his Facebook timeline.
“As a result, a prosecution was brought against Mr Trusler alone, due to his actions on the day in question and no action was deemed necessary in relation to Centurion Traffic Management.”
Sources: metro.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk
