Romanian lorry driver caused fatal smash

A Romanian lorry driver caused a fatal head-on crash after he forgot he was in the UK and drove for more than half a mile on the wrong side of the road, a court heard.

Florentin Humeniuc, 54, was yesterday jailed for two years after he earlier admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

Humeniuc ‘reverted to Continental driving mode’ after he left the M50 motorway in Gloucestershire and turned on to the A417, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

He drove for more than half a mile uphill in the wrong lane before smashing into an oncoming Mercedes panel van being driven by fire service engineer Michael Bryan.

Mr Bryan’s van was doing 37mph at the time of the collision but was shunted back more than 26 ft before coming to a halt, the court heard.

Passing sentence, Recorder Paul Dugdale said: ‘It is clear that he took up a driving position in the right hand lane as if he was on the continent.

‘It is accepted by everybody that this was a lapse of concentration and that until he saw Mr Bryan’s van approaching he was not aware of his error.’