Truck driver caught on dashcam driving unsafely
December 16, 2016
Dashcam footage shows a truck driver taking his hands off the wheel while driving a large truck so he can eat and smoke,
Michael Boothman, 38, was jailed for two years last Friday after he admitted causing the deaths of Brian Dickinson, 82, and his wife Ruth, 77.
Boothman can be seen in the footage - released by police - steering the truck down narrow country lanes with his forearms as he tips a packet of chips into his mouth.
He also spent minutes of the journey using one hand as he ate a sandwich on the B1188 in Metheringham, Lincolnshire, England.
A judge told Boothman, from Leeds, the fact he was smoking at the wheel of the Mercedes box truck made his offence worse.
In the minutes leading up to the fatal double crash Boothman was filmed smoking one handed and eating.
He appeared to not be fully concentrating as at times he was driving with one hand on the steering wheel.
The collision occurred after he entered a right hand bend too fast and went onto the opposite way where he collided head on with an oncoming Lexus.
The Lexus driver, Mr Dickinson, a farmer, and his wife Ruth, a retired nurse were both killed.
Boothman, who worked for a logistics company, and his passenger Robert Fagg, were both seriously injured. Neither was wearing a seat belt at the time.
Mrs Dickinson was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was airlifted to hospital in Nottingham where he passed away three days later.