A MAN who was nearly killed when a lorry careered into his car as he was turning into the driveway of his home said he cannot forgive the HGV driver responsible for the crash.

Chris French said he thought Andrew Elliott’s four-month suspended jail sentence, which means he escapes an immediate term of imprisonment, was too lenient for an accident which left him with four pelvis fractures, two broken ribs, a hole in his lung and numerous cuts and bruises.

The 30-year-old, who was turning off the A141 at Westry, March when the lorry travelling at 8mph over the temporary 40mph speed limit overtook three cars and ploughed into the side of him, said he did not want Elliott to drive again.

“Anyone who causes that type of accident, particularly in a large vehicle like that, should not be on the road,” he said after the 43-year-old’s sentence at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (August 31).

“I can’t forgive what he did because he shouldn’t have done it. You have to forgive people for a lapse of concentration but if you asked my family and friends, they would probably not say that.”

Chris had to be helped out of the car by his mother, Mayor of March Jan French, his sister Kim and off-duty police officer Teilo Pearce.

Kim climbed through the sun roof of Chris’ wrecked Peugeot 106 to open the door to allow his rescuers to free him but Chris had no recollection of the crash after spending 44 days in hospital.

Fortunately the salesman, who is a driving enthusiast, doesn’t suffer any flashbacks to the incident but says: “It’s something I think about and I think about it when I am around lorries in general.

“I give them a huge berth. I don’t want to be anywhere near them.

“I’m consciously looking in the mirrors now when I’m turning into my home. It’s not a nice thing to be thinking about, I don’t feel safe turning into my own driveway.”

Elliott, of Halifax Court, Gibraltar, who was uninjured in the smash, was banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay �750 compensation.