The dangers of driving heavy vehicles were brought into sharp focus this week with two separate truck-related crashes—one in Wales with tragic consequences reaching far beyond the initial collision, and another in New Hampshire, United States, that left a driver seriously injured and traffic snarled for hours. Both incidents, though worlds apart in geography, underscore the immense risks faced on the roads by professional drivers and the everyday motorists who share the highways with them.
In July 2022, the usually quiet Penyfan Industrial Estate in Caerphilly, Wales, became the scene of a devastating crash that would ripple through a tight-knit community. Mariusz Korkosz, a 46-year-old lorry driver from Poland, was making a delivery when his vehicle veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with another heavy goods vehicle driven by Gary Rees, a 55-year-old local man well-known in Caerphilly for his love of lorries and rugby. According to BBC News, the crash, which occurred at a combined impact speed of around 45 mph (72 km/h), left both vehicles mangled and caused severe injuries to Mr. Rees.
Forensic collision investigator Dean Burnett of Gwent Police described the impact as “effectively like one or both of the vehicles driving into a brick wall. A brick wall that doesn't collapse. They both stopped at the point of impact, such was the magnitude of the impact.” The force of the collision was so great that Mr. Rees had to be cut free from his cab, suffering head and leg injuries as well as broken fingers.
Initially, Korkosz claimed that a violent coughing fit had caused him to black out and lose control of his lorry. He insisted that his dashcam would have recorded the coughing, which he said led to his disorientation. However, the dashcam, which also recorded audio unbeknownst to him, captured only the sounds of the engine, the sat nav, and the indicator ticking—no coughing, just a burst of expletives as the collision became inevitable. The footage showed that Korkosz had been driving on the wrong side of the road for almost 20 seconds before the crash, a detail that proved damning in the subsequent investigation.
Gary Rees, despite his injuries, initially appeared to be on the road to recovery. His wife, Hayley Rees, recounted to BBC News how her husband had described the moments before the crash: “He said 'I turned the lorry as much as I could, I just put my hands up in front of my face and I don't remember anything else.' And that's probably all Gary ever said about it.” Dashcam footage confirmed that Mr. Rees had reacted instantly, slamming on his hazard warning lights and pulling the steering wheel left in a desperate attempt to avoid the oncoming lorry.
Tragically, three weeks and three days after the crash, Mr. Rees collapsed at home and died. A coroner later concluded that his death was a result of complications from the injuries sustained in the collision. The loss was deeply felt in Caerphilly, where Mr. Rees was described as a “huge character” and a “legend.” His funeral, held on the rugby field at Bedwas Rugby Club on the hottest day of the year, brought the town to a standstill. A cortege of lorries led by an American truck carried his coffin, a fitting tribute to a man who, as his son Macauley put it, was “such a big character” that “there was nowhere big enough locally to accommodate his funeral service.”
Throughout the ordeal, Mr. Rees showed remarkable compassion for the driver who had caused the crash. Hayley Rees recalled, “Gary had said to me that he didn't do it on purpose, and he didn't want him to go to prison. The police had told him that he had a family and some children, and I remember him saying 'what about them? They don't know where their dad is, he's going to be in prison here in the UK, and I don't think he speaks English, that's not going to be very nice.'”
Korkosz ultimately admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison and subsequently deported after serving his sentence. No further action was taken against him after Mr. Rees’s death, as he had already served his time.
Half a world away, on the morning of November 4, 2025, another crash involving a truck unfolded on the Everett Turnpike in Nashua, New Hampshire. According to WMUR, a 33-year-old Nashua resident driving a car collided with a box truck driven by a 38-year-old from Greenville around 11:30 a.m. near Exit 8. Police reported that the crash occurred after traffic had slowed, and the car struck the back of the box truck.
The consequences were immediate and severe: the car’s driver was seriously injured and had to be flown by helicopter to a hospital in Massachusetts. A passenger in the car sustained minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital, while the box truck driver escaped unharmed. The northbound side of the highway was closed for about two hours as investigators worked at the scene, causing significant traffic backups in both directions.
Authorities have asked anyone with information about the Nashua crash to contact Trooper Evan Puopolo, as the investigation continues. The incident highlights the ever-present dangers on busy highways, where a moment’s inattention or a sudden slowdown can have life-altering consequences.
Both crashes serve as sobering reminders of the fragility of life on the road and the immense responsibilities borne by those behind the wheel of heavy vehicles. In Caerphilly, a beloved local figure was lost to a tragic accident that unfolded in seconds but left a community grieving for years. In Nashua, a driver’s life was forever changed in the blink of an eye, and a highway was brought to a standstill.
As investigators piece together the causes of these crashes, the stories of Gary Rees and the unnamed Nashua driver echo a common refrain: vigilance, accountability, and empathy are essential on the roads—qualities that, when absent, can lead to irreversible loss and heartbreak.