Car pushed down motorway by lorry.

Lorry Driver Cleared

As her car was pinned sideways to the front of a lorry and shunted down the motorway at 60mph, the internet was the last thing on Rona Williams’s mind.

But when footage captured by a passenger in a passing vehicle was posted on YouTube, she found herself a web sensation.

And among those intrigued by the drama were the police.
lorry shunts car

Wedged: Lorry driver John Tomlinson was cleared of any wrongdoing after his lorry was pictured shunting a car sideways along the A1

Yesterday, the driver of the tanker, John Tomlinson, appeared before a tribunal, faced with being stripped of his heavy goods vehicle licence over the incident.

But as well as being cleared of any wrongdoing he was praised for his handling of the near-disaster after a police report found that Mrs Williams had been to blame.

The accident happened in January on the A1 near Leeds but was only investigated after dramatic footage was published on the internet showing the Renault Clio wedged against the front of the tanker as it sped down the fast lane.

At the time, Mrs Williams, 31, told the Daily Mail she had no idea how the lorry had hit her car as she was ‘tootling’ along to work.
John Tomlinson
Rona Williams

'Ill advised': Vet Rona Williams undertook Mr Tomlinson's 40-tonne lorry on the A1 near Leeds and tests revealed he would have been unable to see or hear her after she hit his lorry

She insisted she had not deviated from her path when she ‘felt a knock’ and found herself trapped under the truck’s bumper.

As she was pushed along the motorway, she rang 999 on her mobile phone and begged: ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die! Can you do something?’

In a desperate attempt to catch the tanker driver’s attention, she yanked on her handbrake, sounded the horn and flashed her hazard warning lights.

‘I kept thinking, “Nobody knows I’m here. Nobody has seen me”,’ she said. ‘I tried everything.’
lorry shunts car

Exonerated: A tribunal praised Mr Tomlinson for his actions after he was alerted to the presence of Ms Williams' car by another driver

Mr Tomlinson was completely unaware of her presence until another driver flagged him down.

He pulled on to the hard shoulder where Mrs Williams, a vet from York, escaped shocked but unharmed. Her £6,000 car sustained only a dented side and worn tyres.

When the footage emerged on YouTube in March, it attracted millions of viewers and prompted the police to relaunch their inquiries into the incident.

During the investigation, Mr Tomlinson was suspended from his job delivering loads of silica sand for Cheshire-based Arclid Transport.

Yesterday, he appeared before North West Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell, who was told police had concluded that Mrs Williams had pulled out in front of him from the left in an ‘ill-advised’ manoeuvre.

Tests had confirmed he could not have seen or heard the car wedged in front of his cab, and the hearing praised his actions.

Exonerating him, Miss Bell concluded: ‘You showed, in my view, coolness and a clear head.

‘I feel it is entirely inappropriate for me to take away your licence. You, your employers and the haulage industry should be able to hold your heads up high after this incident.’

Afterwards Mr Tomlinson, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, a lorry driver for 29 years, appeared close to tears as he said he hadn’t decided whether to resume his career.

His solicitor, Sean Joyce, said his client had been ‘wholly vindicated of any wrongdoing’.

He added: ‘This incident was, as they say, a freak of nature and purely accidental.’

Additional mirrors fitted to new lorries are meant to eliminate the blind spot which meant the Clio couldn’t be seen. Arclid has now installed these on its fleet.