Lorry driver 'did not see family'

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A couple have told how an articulated lorry crashed into the family's broken down car, killing their daughter.

Chloe Clark, 10, from Llandudno, Conwy, was asleep in the back when the truck hit their Rover 416 on the A55.

Ellen Clark and her husband Joseph told a Mold Crown Court jury the lorry driver did not seem to see them and did not appear to slow down.

Edward Kicinski, 47, from New Ross, County Wexford, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Mrs Clark said her daughter Chelsea, then 13, and her husband Joseph were also injured in the crash.

It happened on the inside lane of the westbound carriageway between Caerwys and Rhuallt Hill in Denbighshire last February.

After breaking down, Mrs Clark said they were in a panic about what to do next and saw the lorry approaching from behind.

It did not seem to slow down at all and continued in the same nearside lane Ellen Clark

She hit the hazard lights a number of times but they did not work.

The lorry was a long way away when they first saw it, Mrs Clark said.

"The lorry driver did not seem to have seen us," she added.

"It did not seem to slow down at all and continued in the same nearside lane."

She said that their car did not have any lights on but it was still daylight at the time which was about 1650 GMT.

Lorry driver Edward Kicinski cried as Mrs Clark gave evidence

Mrs Clark was asked, thinking back, if it would have been possible for the family to get out of the car in time.

She said: "If Chloe was not asleep I think we would have been able to."

Her husband then told how "the car just shut itself off. Everything stopped working".

Mr Clark said the steering wheel was heavy and the car came to a halt on the inside lane.

He tried to re-start the engine unsuccessfully, then saw the truck in the distance and estimated it was about 15 seconds away.

He told how he began to fear the lorry would hit them when it failed to stop or change its course.

Asked if there was anything he could have done to protect himself and family, he replied: "There was nothing. There was not enough time.

"I remember thinking it is going to hit us. Then it hit us."

Unconscious

Mr Clark was temporarily knocked unconscious and broke an arm, but tried to revive his daughter when he regained his senses.

Cross-examining, Kim Halsall asked if it had crossed his mind to get everyone out of the car. He replied: "It was just coming at us."

The prosecution says the lorry driver would have been able to see the broken down car ahead of him for half a mile, but he did not try to stop until the last second.

Prosecuting barrister John Philpotts said it was their case that Mr Kicinski, who is a Polish national, should have had plenty of time to see the broken down car, to assess the situation ahead of him, and respond accordingly.

He said Chloe's parents had seen the Daf lorry approaching.

Tachograph

He said lorry drivers "ought to be constantly alert to any possible hazard that might crop up in front of them particularly on high-speed roads like the A55. This Mr Kicinski failed to do."

He described Mr Kicinski driving as "culpably, dangerously negligent".

The tachograph showed the trucker had been driving at about 53mph and then reduced his speed to 50mph one second before it hit the family's Rover 416.

But Mr Philpotts said it was the prosecution case the driver had 800m to react when the car would have been visible to him.

Kim Halsall, defending, suggested the crash occurred just as it was beginning to get dark at the end of a miserable and gloomy day.

The trial continues.