Van courier in A9 death crash ‘asleep at wheel’
A COURIER driver was asleep when he ploughed at 48mph into a queue of stationary vehicles on the A9, killing a car driver, a court was told yesterday.
Self-employed Ion Rusu said his job required him to drive for up to 14 hours at a time between Scotland and England and he often felt tired.
The Romanian admitted causing the death of Marek Majewski, 25, by dangerous driving on the southbound A9 near the Keir roundabout at Dunblane, Perthshire, by failing to pay attention to the road in front of him and falling asleep.
The 41-year-old smashed his Mercedes Sprinter van into farm worker Mr Majewski’s Honda Civic which was then shunted into the back of a lorry. Mr Majewski died at the scene on April 20.
Sylwia Biernat, 26, who was a passenger in his car, suffered serious spinal injuries in the crash.
The court was told that Rusu failed to react to stationary traffic on the approach to the roundabout and drove his van at speed into the back of Mr Majewski’s vehicle.
Prosecutor Michael Meehan told the court: ‘About 6.20pm Derrick Sinclair was driving his articulated lorry and he encountered stationary traffic.
‘He brought his lorry to a standstill and Mr Majewski stopped half a car length behind the lorry.’
The High Court in Glasgow was told Miss Biernat said they sat
‘No evidence of evasive action’
there for a short while before their car was struck from behind. She told police there was no sound of braking before the collision.
Mr Majewski, who had been on his way to Glasgow Airport to pick up friends arriving from his native Poland, was pinned to his steering wheel by the force of the impact and trapped. He died that evening.
The court heart that the force of the crash pushed the rear of the Honda into the front of the car.
Miss Biernat had to undergo a spinal operation, now suffers pain in her legs and back and is unable to sit for any length of time.
Rusu was found in his van unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel.
A GPS tracking device in Rusu’s van showed that at the moment of impact it was travelling at 48mph.
Investigators found no evidence that Rusu had tried to brake or carry out any evasive action.
When he was told by police that Mr Majewski had died, Rusu was extremely upset.
Mr Meehan said: ‘He told officers he no longer held a tenancy in London and had been sleeping in his van for a couple of months.
‘He said he had possibly been sleeping at the time of the collision as his job required him to drive for up to 14 hours at a stretch.’
The court heard that Rusu held a full UK driving licence and there were no defects on his van or the Honda Civic. Judge Graeme Buchanan deferred sentence until next month at the High Court in Edinburgh for background reports on Rusu, who is in custody.