Caerphilly Crash Lorry Driver Blames Cough Caught on Dashcam

A lorry driver who claimed a coughing fit caused him to veer onto the wrong side of the road and crash into another HGV, as his dashcam also recorded audio.

Footage from Marioz Korkosz’s Cab shows him driving through the wrong industrial estate in Caerphilly for almost 20 seconds, before crashing into a lorry with local man Gary Gary Rees, who later died.

Korkosz, who drives for a Haulage company in Poland, didn’t know his camera was recording sound, but still forced it to capture the violent coughing that made him “black” and become decent.

A police investigation, parked BBC series crash detectivesRevealed moments before the impact, he could only hear swearing, and was imprisoned for 20 weeks.

Forensic collision investigator Dean Burnett, from Gwent Police, said the collision between the two heavy vehicles was “huge”, with a combined impact of around 45mph (72KM/H).

He added: “It’s effectively like one or two of the vehicles driving into a brick wall.

“A brick wall that won’t fall. They both stopped at the point of impact, that’s how big the impact was.”

Pault-of-Two Mr Rees, 55, had to be cut from the cab of his truck, following the July 2022 crash.

He was treated for injuries to his head and legs, as well as broken fingers.

Described as a “great character”, and a “story” in his town of Caerphelly, where he also worked as a doorman, he also appeared to be recovering from his injuries, but he died three weeks later.

Mr Rees’ family disappointed that he was a fantastic driver, loved trucks and had never had a crash in 30 years of driving.

In the hours after the crash, he told wife Hayley Rees, 44, he had “no chance”.

She described how her husband tried to clear the path, but the trees were in the way.

“He said ‘I turned the lorry as hard as I could, I put my hands in front of my face and I don’t remember anything’,” added me’, “Mrs Rees added.

“And that’s probably all Gary has to say about it.”

But the dash cameras recorded the vehicles, and the analysis revealed that as the registered truck showed a left hand turn, which resulted in him immediately, he stopped immediately.

The lights of the hazard lights can be seen flashing – indicating that MR Rees is in emergency mode, with corresponding tire marks discovered on the surface of the collision.

His hand was on the end of the steering wheel, as he pulled to the left in a desperate attempt to avoid the impact.

But this bad action is contrary to the driver who is on the wrong side of the road.

Korkosz, 46, told police he felt unwell during his trip to Wales, but continued his delivery to the Penyfan Industrial Estate in Phenyfan.

He described having bouts of severe coughing, before heading home on the main road.

As his Dashcam captured the sounds of the engine, Sat Nav and Indicator ticking, no coughing was heard – just a burst of expletives as long as he knew the collision was about to happen.

Despite his injuries, Mr Rees held no grudges, and instead sympathized with someone in the same profession.

Mrs Rees said: “Gary told me he didn’t do it on purpose, and he didn’t want him to go to jail.

“The police told him that he had a family and some children, and I remember him saying ‘where they are in prison, he is not in prison speaking English, that he is not good’.”

Korkosz stuck to his story but admitted causing grievous bodily harm by dangerous driving, and was sent to prison for 20 weeks.

Mrs Rees said: “I remember Gary saying the driver was sentenced and he just kept quiet.

“He was very angry, he cried his eyes, he said ‘I have to lie down’, and he went and sailed there for a few hours.

“And he won’t talk about it.”

Three weeks and three days after the crash, Mr Rees collapsed at home and died.

Three years on, his sons Macauey and Jorge remember how his funeral brought a standphilly to a good man who could not be more noble for a good noble man who worshiped rugby and drove lorries and drove lorries.

While Mrs Rees was reluctant at first for her coffin to be carried on the back of an American truck, Jorge, 22, was quickly convinced what Gary really wanted.

It led a cortege of several other lorries, while people lined the streets to pay their respects.

Macauey, 30, said his father’s popularity wasn’t big enough locally to hold his funeral service – so they turned to the Rugby Club.

He said: “We can’t just have it in a normal place, we have to have it in the real field of the road.

“It’s the season depending, but it turned out to be the hottest day of the year.

“That just shows what a great character he is, to have it on a rugby field.”

A coroner concluded that Mr Rees died as a result of complications from injuries he sustained in the crash.

But no further action was taken against Korkosz, who had already served his sentence and was deported.

The Full Investigation can be seen on detective detectives: Silent Witness at 19:00 GMT, Wednesday, 5 November, BBC Two England, and BBC IPLAYER