Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
National
Hannah Kane

The harrowing A34 crash footage a grieving family wants you to see to avoid further heartbreak

This is the moment a lorry driver smashed into a row of parked cars while using his mobile phone, killing a mum and her three children.

The family who lost their lives were on their way back from holiday when Tomasz Kroker got distracted and crashed into them on the motorway.

Kroker had been changing the music on his phone when he ploughed into stationary traffic in 2015, killing Tracy Houghton, 45, and her sons Ethan, 13, and Joshua, 11, as well as her partner's daughter, Aimee Goldsmith, 11.

The footage has been released as drivers are warned using their devices behind the wheel could have devastating consequences.

Father of Josh and Ethan, Doug, said the two boys had been planning on playing Pokemon Go in Hyde Park upon their return, KentLive reports.

He said: "I thought that was the worst day of my life, my kids being killed. But I think it was three weeks later when I went to the funeral director's and actually saw them, dead, cold, in their coffins."

Aimee's dad, Mark, said the children "couldn't wait to get home" to play Pokemon and said they hugged and kissed before getting into the car.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker using mobile phone moment before fatal A34 crash

In the video clip, Aimee's mum, Kate, recalled in tears how the police had knocked on her door and told her her daughter had been killed in a car accident. She said her daughter wanted to be a vet.

"I continue to see drivers using their phones and it sickens me," she said.

"If they had seen the devastation they brought my family, or to other families, by using phones, illegally... distracting themselves from driving a potential weapon...

"Would they be as sickened as we are?"

Kroker, 30, was jailed for 10 years at Reading Crown Court after pleading guilty to four deaths by dangerous driving and a single count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

After his conviction, former Gloucestershire police chief constable Suzette Davenport said it was up to the public to make it socially unacceptable to use your mobile at the wheel.

Nationally, the number of mobile users who text, make calls and check social media accounts has risen and "distracted driving" is expected to be the biggest single cause of death and injuries on the roads.

The lorry driver from Andover, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to four counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.