Calls for drivers to put down phones after fatal crash on A303 | UK News

A man whose fiancé died in a road crash caused by a lorry driver using his mobile has urged other motorists to “put their phones down”.

Alex Britton, 28, from Hampshire, was one of three people killed after Michal Kopaniarz ploughed into their parked vehicles on the A303, near Andover, in 2021.

During his trial, a judge said his use of his mobile phone demonstrated a “lamentable lack of respect… for the safety of other road users”.

Figures obtained by the show an increase in fixed penalty notices issued to drivers using mobile phones in parts of the south of England.

Aaron Law said he had frequently seen drivers on their mobile phones and it “instantly” made him angry.

“It is hard to explain to someone the impact it can have, if they haven’t been through something like this,” he said.

“I lost the love of my life within moments.”

The police investigation revealed Kopaniarz had been on his phone for seven minutes.

The 42-year-old was watching a cat video and, moments before the crash, he was entering an address into his sat nav.

Ms Britton’s mother Avril Swain said the family were “incensed’ when they found out.

“Somebody had the arrogance to think they could drive this huge lorry, this huge killing machine, as well as being on their phone,” she said.

Kopaniarz, from Donnington, Shropshire, was jailed for 12 years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

He also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice after he was filmed trying to destroy his mobile phone at the roadside.

Mr Law was in a relationship with Ms Britton for over a decade and had planned to get married in February 2022. They had two children together, aged three and 17 months.

“Alex was the most understanding mother, gentle, she was devoted, loving,” he said.

“She would do everything for them. She loved doing arts and crafts with her girls.”

He said telling their three-year-old that “mummy was not coming home” had been “devastating”.

“I miss her every second of the day. We did everything together,” he said.

Tom Watson, 30 and Tina Ince, 58, both from Southampton, also died in the crash.

Ms Britton’s car had broken down on the westbound carriageway near Andover, and Mr Watson and Ms Ince had stopped to help.

Using a hand-held mobile phone or sat-nav while driving is illegal, and any hands-free devices should be fully set up before you drive.

Police still have the power to stop you if they think you have been distracted and the law still applies if you are stopped in traffic or queuing at lights.

The government has increased the penalty points received to six, plus a £200 fine.

The submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request about the number of fixed penalty notices issued to drivers using a mobile phone.

Wiltshire Police issued 1,457 fixed penalty notices (FPN) in 2024, up from 552 in 2022.

Surrey Police issued 1,930 fines in 2024, up from 891 in 2022.

Sussex Police issued 620 notices last year, up from 403 issued three years before.

Dorset Police, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, and Thames Valley Police did not provide the data on the grounds of cost.

I was invited to go out with Surrey Police on one of their operations targeting drivers using hand-held mobile phones.

The operation involved one of the officers wearing plain clothes and cycling up and down a cycle path to monitor drivers in slow moving traffic.

PC Chris Wright said: “We spend a lot of time in town centres like Guildford, Farnham, Reigate, and Dorking.

“Mobile phones are a distraction. Modern cars have Bluetooth and are hands-free.

“My advice is put the phone in a glove box or a handbag, away from temptation.

“These distraction offences mean the slightest thing can cause a distraction and can have devastating consequences.”

Ms Swain, Alex Britton’s mother, said: “It was catastrophic what happened, to Alex, and the two good Samaritans who came to help her.

“Alex is missed so much every day. It is just a huge loss for her children to lose their mother at such a young age.

“She was only 28. It wasn’t like she was ill. She was here one day and gone the next, we didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

Kopaniarz was told by a judge his “deliberate and unconscionable decision” to dispose of his phone, was the “action of a desperate man trying to minimise your culpability”.

The court heard how the lorry driver, originally from Poland, had written a note to the families expressing his “gut-wrenching regret”.

The judge told him he would be banned from driving for 10 years after his release from prison.