A homeless Polish-born lorry driver accused of killing eight people had stopped in the slow lane of the M1 for 12 minutes before the crash ...
Their vehicle had to swerve to avoid Masierak's stationary Scania lorry ..
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4829456/Polish-born-drink-driver-31-court-M1-smash.html#ixzz4rLjwhADQ
Pictures from the crash site:
front: thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/nintchdbpict0003481307282.jpg?strip=all&w=960
above: worcesternews.co.uk/resources/images/6758773/?type=responsive-gallery-fullscreen
So the polish driver actually was not "driving a truck that crashed into an innocent family" but parking his truck in lane 1 of the highway. It is still a criminal offence, esp. in combination with being drunk, but for me his personal guilt is much lower compared to would he actually been driving and hitting somebody. It seems that he realized that he was too drunk to drive and parked his truck in - if the pictures indicate his actual position - the most safest spot on that highway.
It is on the other side rather questionable why the van was there in the first place, since there is an exit ramp right before the place of impact. But even if he were to stand in the slow lane, every motorist shall only drive as fast as for him it is possible to stop when he recognizes an obstacle on the road, even at 3am. Other drivers were obviously able to avoid hitting his truck, considering that he was already standing there for some 12 minutes and the M1 is a busy motorway even at 3am.