This is Bristol -- DRIVERS crashed "like pinballs in a machine" as dense smoke from a firework display mixed with fog on the M5 during a crash which killed seven people, a court heard. A survivor of the carnage, which also left 51 people injured, told Bristol Crown Court today that he feared the next impact would kill him as he rebounded in the blinding cloud. Dozens of cars, vans and lorries collided - some bursting into flames - in one of the worst traffic accidents ever seen in the UK, in November 2011. Lorry driver Terry Brice, 55, from Patchway, was among those killed. Geoffrey Counsell, 51, is accused of health and safety breaches over the huge display he organised at nearby Taunton Rugby Club, where around 1,500 fireworks were fired in 15 minutes. He denies a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act of failing to ensure the safety of others. Witness Steven Kingsland, 52, of Axbridge, told the court he was driving his silver Ford Galaxy north on the motorway when he found himself caught in the mayhem. He said: "Within a fraction of a second of passing junction 25 my windscreen went completely white, as if a blanket had been thrown over it - it was like a thick layer of snow. "All I could focus on was the inside of the glass and the interior of my car reflecting on it. "I was taken by surprise and before I had time to activate my fog lights or my hazard lights the fog began thinning. "I could see three sets of brake lights directly in front of me, on the near side and the off side, and immediately I thought I was going to hit the vehicle in front so I braked as hard as I could. "I can't exactly remember what happened next. I was hit several times, at least four or five. "I was so scared. I felt the next hit was going to kill me and I felt very vulnerable. "The only thing I can liken it to is being a pinball in a machine." In a statement read to the court, TNT lorry driver Perry Mead said he could hear sounds from the firework display by the side of the motorway as he entered the smoke. He said: "I could hear sounds of cheering and music like a fairground off to the left. "There was no visibility at all, so I began to brake heavily, just waiting for when I would hit something. I felt that at any point something would appear in front of me. "I couldn't hear the sounds of any vehicle skidding, it seemed as if the vehicles were crashing without braking." Matthew Craker, of Devon, was a passenger in his wife's white Renault Traffic van which pulled on to the motorway seconds before the smoke descended. He told the court: "There was a clear difference between what was perfect nighttime visibility and then a completely blackout. "It is something that I have never experienced before in driving and it was literally like somebody had thrown a bag over my head." His wife Michelle added: "I was following a car in front of me and I could see the brake lights clearly. "Then suddenly they just went out. I couldn't see the road surface, I couldn't see the cats eyes, nothing. "My headlights were on but at that point they didn't shine on anything. "I braked, we didn't swerve, we just hit whatever was in front of us. I couldn't see what it was I had gone into. "We felt like we were still moving, and we got hit almost immediately by something behind, probably about two seconds later. Then there were further collisions." Susan Crowle, who was a passenger in her husband's car, told the court: "There was absolutely no visibility, it was very dense, you couldn't see anything. It was very frightening.""We were probably in it five to seven seconds, it was all very quick. My husband slowed down very quickly. "That was quite scary too, we went from doing 60 to 70mph to 20 to 30mph. "You couldn't see anything outside. It was very dense and black. There was no visibility or lights of other cars." Her husband Stephen said: "I saw fireworks to my left, there were some very large ones which I would assume were from a professional display. "Suddenly we hit what I consider a black wall. Visibility dropped dramatically from an estimated 200m to virtually nothing. "Thankfully there was very little traffic around me." The trial continues.
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This is Bristol -- DRIVERS crashed "like pinballs in a machine" as dense smoke from a firework display mixed with fog on the M5 during a crash which killed seven people, a court heard. A survivor of the carnage, which also left 51 people injured, told Bristol Crown Court today that he feared the next impact would kill him as he rebounded in the blinding cloud. Dozens of cars, vans and lorries collided - some bursting into flames - in one of the worst traffic accidents ever seen in the UK, in November 2011. Lorry driver Terry Brice, 55, from Patchway, was among those killed. Geoffrey Counsell, 51, is accused of health and safety breaches over the huge display he organised at nearby Taunton Rugby Club, where around 1,500 fireworks were fired in 15 minutes. He denies a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act of failing to ensure the safety of others. Witness Steven Kingsland, 52, of Axbridge, told the court he was driving his silver Ford Galaxy north on the motorway when he found himself caught in the mayhem. He said: "Within a fraction of a second of passing junction 25 my windscreen went completely white, as if a blanket had been thrown over it - it was like a thick layer of snow. "All I could focus on was the inside of the glass and the interior of my car reflecting on it. "I was taken by surprise and before I had time to activate my fog lights or my hazard lights the fog began thinning. "I could see three sets of brake lights directly in front of me, on the near side and the off side, and immediately I thought I was going to hit the vehicle in front so I braked as hard as I could. "I can't exactly remember what happened next. I was hit several times, at least four or five. "I was so scared. I felt the next hit was going to kill me and I felt very vulnerable. "The only thing I can liken it to is being a pinball in a machine." In a statement read to the court, TNT lorry driver Perry Mead said he could hear sounds from the firework display by the side of the motorway as he entered the smoke. He said: "I could hear sounds of cheering and music like a fairground off to the left. "There was no visibility at all, so I began to brake heavily, just waiting for when I would hit something. I felt that at any point something would appear in front of me. "I couldn't hear the sounds of any vehicle skidding, it seemed as if the vehicles were crashing without braking." Matthew Craker, of Devon, was a passenger in his wife's white Renault Traffic van which pulled on to the motorway seconds before the smoke descended. He told the court: "There was a clear difference between what was perfect nighttime visibility and then a completely blackout. "It is something that I have never experienced before in driving and it was literally like somebody had thrown a bag over my head." His wife Michelle added: "I was following a car in front of me and I could see the brake lights clearly. "Then suddenly they just went out. I couldn't see the road surface, I couldn't see the cats eyes, nothing. "My headlights were on but at that point they didn't shine on anything. "I braked, we didn't swerve, we just hit whatever was in front of us. I couldn't see what it was I had gone into. "We felt like we were still moving, and we got hit almost immediately by something behind, probably about two seconds later. Then there were further collisions." Susan Crowle, who was a passenger in her husband's car, told the court: "There was absolutely no visibility, it was very dense, you couldn't see anything. It was very frightening.""We were probably in it five to seven seconds, it was all very quick. My husband slowed down very quickly. "That was quite scary too, we went from doing 60 to 70mph to 20 to 30mph. "You couldn't see anything outside. It was very dense and black. There was no visibility or lights of other cars." Her husband Stephen said: "I saw fireworks to my left, there were some very large ones which I would assume were from a professional display. "Suddenly we hit what I consider a black wall. Visibility dropped dramatically from an estimated 200m to virtually nothing. "Thankfully there was very little traffic around me." The trial continues.
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