Terrifying dashcam footage shows the moment a lorry ploughed into stationary rush hour traffic – throwing a driver’s legs through his smashed windscreen.
The Mercedes articulated lorry, driven by Lithuanian Vygantas Stanulis (doub corr), failed to brake until the last moment, and the heavy truck, laden with steel, ploughed into the back of the car in front.
Stanulis’ dashcam caught the entire smash on film, showing the driver of the tiny Ford Fiesta being hurtled through the front of his own car – with such force that his shoe came off.
The impact crushed the car, sending the 20-year-old driver’s legs flying through the mangled windscreen, while the lorry in front carrying pallets was shunted into the hard shoulder, of the A2 in Dover, Kent.
The car driver was left with a fractured skills, two fractured vertebrae, a fractured ankle, knee and shin bone and facial injuries.
He still faces having operations on his face and knee and will suffer from his injuries for the rest of his life.
**WARNING – This footage contains distressing scenes**
Lorry driver Stanulis, 55, denied causing injury by dangerous driving for the smash as he drove along a carriageway towards Dover this January.
But he changed his plea to guilty on the day his trial had been due to start at the Old Bailey and was jailed for 12 months.
Investigating officer Police Constable Celia Weller said visibility had been clear on the morning of the collision and the roads had not been icy.
She said: “A dash camera in the Mercedes lorry showed that Stanulis was driving at around 50 mph just before the collision.”
Witnesses said the lorry did not slow down as it approached the line of traffic. Stanulis only attempted to brake about half a second before colliding with the Fiesta.
Police Constable Weller said: “Stanulis told us he had taken his eyes off the road for a second to look at two lorries parked in a lay-by.
“He described it as a momentary lapse in concentration.”
“Stanulis didn’t set out that morning to cause harm and he is still coming to terms with what happened.
“The victim still faces operations on his face and knee and will live with the consequences of this collision for a long time.
“It just goes to show that any lapse in concentration when driving can have devastating consequences.”
Kent Police released the footage with the blessing of the victim.
