An ex-soldier has been cleared of causing the deaths of two men in an M6 crash near Penrith by driving carelessly.
Florentin Lepadat, 51, and Viorel Stroe, 43, died when their Volkswagen Passat was struck from behind by a Mercedes Sprinter Luton van as both vehicles travelled northbound in lane two approaching junction 40 at around 11.15am on February 28 2022.
At the time, lane one was coned off. Traffic flowed in lanes two and three. A 70mph speed limit remained in force.
For an unknown reason, the Passat was either stationary or moving so slow that it appeared stationary, Carlisle Crown Court heard. Its hazard lights were on.
Three vehicles successfully took action to avoid the Passat. But as the third, a van, swerved left into the coned area, it left a gap between a Mercedes Sprinter, driven by 35-year-old Luke Price, and the Passat.
Dash cam footage captured by another vehicle, passing in lane three, showed the Mercedes colliding with the Passat, which burst into flames as the fuel tank ruptured. Driver Mr Lepadat and rear seat passenger Mr Stroe died at the scene. Mr Lepadat’s front seat passenger son survived.
The Passat was too badly damaged to be examined for medical faults, leaving investigators unsure why it slowed.
In a joint report, two experts concluded the Passat might not have been immediately recognisable as stationary until Mr Price was 93.5m away. At his recorded speed of 67mph, that distance would be covered in around 3.1 seconds.
Mr Price, of Vicarage Road, Stourbridge, denied causing the deaths of Mr Lepadat and Mr Stroe, both of Rochdale, by careless driving.
A trial prosecutor alleged he failed to appreciate the presence of the Passat until it was too late.
But Mr Price insisted he did react in time. In a police interview, he recalled first being aware of the Passat in lane two when the van in front of him swerved left.
“I reacted immediately,” he said. “There was no delay. I believe I braked before the collision. It all happened very quickly.”
Mr Price — a former Army tank driver with no criminal convictions — added: “It was not possible for me to avoid a collision with the stationary car.”
The court heard he was an experienced driver who covered 25,000 miles a year through his work, and was described as an exemplary employee, reliable and very professional.
Jurors acquitted Mr Price on the two charges he had denied having deliberated for almost two-and-a-half hours.
