Wrong-way drive, crash and M62 U-turn by over-limit Pole in van

Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday that Mariusz Urbaniak had already crashed his van into a car and failed to stop while going the wrong way round the Ferrybridge roundabout.

The other motorist involved, who had a child passenger in her car, had checked to her right before setting off only to be confronted with his box van coming straight at her from the left.

It struck her Fiat before he set off up the slip road, forcing oncoming vehicles from the M62 to swerve to avoid a collision.

Drivers were flashing lights at him but he ignored them until on the M62, where he did a U turn across the three lanes before stopping half on the hard shoulder and half in the nearside lane.

Robert Galley prosecuting said when police tested Urbaniak soon after 9am he had 95 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, nearly three times the limit of 35 microgrammes.

He admitted he had drunk half a litre bottle of Polish vodka and some beers while waiting at Ferrybridge services for his next delivery instructions from his employer in Poland.

Charlotte Eastwood for Urbaniak said he had not been expecting to drive again until the following evening and had taken the drink to help him sleep but was then moved on unexpectedly by security at the service station.

“He is thoroughly ashamed of himself and in disbelief at what happened and the way he conducted himself,” she said.

Urbaniak, 30, admitted dangerous driving and driving over the prescribed limit and was given a six month jail term suspended for two years with 80 hours unpaid work, was disqualified from driving for two years, fined £750 and ordered to pay costs of £300.