Personal injury news

Mother of injured family sustained whiplash injury in road accident

A taxi driver who crashed taking a family of four to Gatwick Airport has pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and no car insurance.

John George Croxford, 41, was driving under the influence of alcohol when a lorry collided with his Toyota Aventis on the M23 on 5th August.

The family sustained personal injuries in the car accident, including the mother who suffered a whiplash injury.

Mr Croxford was working for Burlington Cars in Chrislehurst, a 20-year-old family-run business, of which he was the director and his wife a controller.

He had been taking some time off work while his car was being repaired at the garage and so had a few drinks one evening at home but at midnight, received a phone call from his wife, asking him to work the following day.

Mr Croxford thought it would be fine to drive his wife's car and thought that the alcohol should have passed through his system by the time he drove the family to Gatwick Airport.

The car crash happened on the M23 southbound between Merstham and Gatwick when a lorry collided with the taxi as well as another car on the motorway.

When Mr Croxford was breathalysed, police found that he was almost twice the legal limit and was driving his wife's car without any insurance.

The family in the car sustained serious personal injuries in the vehicle accident, with the father suffering a chest and back injury and the mother sustaining a whiplash injury.

Mr Croxford pleaded guilty at Redhill Magistrates Court and was ordered to pay a £275 fine for excess alcohol and had his licence disqualified for 18 months.

For driving without insurance, he was fined £175 and ordered to pay £70 court costs.