Man sentenced after careless driving leads to fatal collision
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A man has been jailed after causing the death of a man by driving carelessly in Burntwood.
Josh Sandhu, aged 28, from Cannock, was driving his Volkswagen Polo along Miners Way on the afternoon of 17 May 2022 when he collided with a Volkswagen Golf that was travelling in the opposite direction.
His Polo struck the front of the Golf, which spun off the carriageway onto the nearside verge. The driver of the Golf, Paul Summers, aged 32, from Cannock, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
A 20-year-old man, who was a front seat passenger of the Polo, suffered minor injuries from which he recovered.
Analysis from the airbag control module fitted to the VW Polo indicated that the vehicle was accelerating from 45mph to 55mph at the point of impact. Impact marks suggested the Polo was on the wrong side of the road at the time of the collision.
Sandhu was jailed for 10-months at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday (25 June) after admitting causing death by careless driving, was disqualified from driving for 29 months and ordered to take an extended re-test.
Detective Constable Jim Addison, from the Staffordshire and West Midlands Serious Collision Investigation unit, said: “Sandhu’s poor driving that day caused the death of a man who was simply making his way to work. Paul’s family and friends have suffered tremendously as a result.
“This collision was avoidable if Sandhu had paid attention while he was driving.”
Tragically, 45 people lost their lives in road collisions across our county in 2023. We’re committed to proactively policing our roads and taking action against those putting other motorists at risk.
Recently, we launched our Look Again campaign in a bid to reduce the number of serious and fatal collisions in Staffordshire. We arrested 70 people on suspicion of a number of driving offences over the course of the campaign.
To read more about it, visit: https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/may/seventy-arrested-as-campaign-drives-home-road-safety-message/