A man who crossed the central reservation, driving the wrong way on a dual carriageway to avoid a road closure, has been banned from driving.
It happened as emergency services were responding to a life-threatening incident on the A24 at Dial Post on December 22.
Three people had been seriously injured and police had closed the dual carriageway on one side so they, and paramedics, could help the victims.
However, the driver of a Citroen van, Beau Feighan, a self-employed electrician, said he couldn't afford to "sit in traffic for free" and decided to cross the grass verge onto the opposing carriageway to drive past the incident.
Police say he narrowly avoided a second head on collision as he drove the wrong way on the 70mph limit dual carriageway.
Feighan, 29, said his reason for risking another potentially fatal collision was that he was “late for work” and “didn’t want to sit behind the police”.
Police traced the number plate of the van and arrested the driver. When questioned by officers, he accepted his driving was dangerous.
Feighan, of Ashcroft Road, Chessington, Surrey, was charged with dangerous driving and appeared before Crawley Magistrates’ Court on June 15 where he pleaded guilty to the charge.
He was disqualified from driving for two years, and told he would need to take an extended retest before he is allowed back behind the wheel.
The court ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) sessions, and 19 sessions at the Thinking Skills Programme. He must also pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
Roads Policing Unit (RPU) officer PC Christina Lane said:
“We were already responding to a serious and potentially fatal road traffic collision on the A24.
“So Feighan’s decision to go onto the opposite carriageway was selfish and reckless.
“There was a high risk of him causing a serious injury or fatality to himself, another road user, the emergency responders, and to the existing casualties who we were looking after.
“Footage shows he was only a split second from causing another collision with an unsuspecting member of the public who was travelling in the opposite direction.
“We understand that there can be frustration with delays as we respond to incidents, but we ask the public to be patient while emergency services respond.
“Inconsiderate driving, such as that by Feighan, is one of the ‘fatal five’ causes of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. He is lucky not to have caused another tragedy.”
Three people who were injured in the collision are continuing to make their recoveries and the investigation into the collision continues.
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