Motorway driver hits lorry after 'naively' taking cocaine at party

Toyota driver crashed into lorry on M606 motorway near Bradford

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Andrew Robinson Chief Reporter

04:00, 14 Aug 2026

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Ross Wilkinson leaving Kirklees magistrates' court in Huddersfield

A driver tested positive for cocaine and cannabis after crashing into a lorry on the M606 near Bradford.

Ross Wilkinson, 31, was driving a Toyota Crown on January 21 at Cleckheaton when he collided with a lorry. The lorry was in lane three and Wilkinson had gone from lane two to lane three "too quickly," Kirklees magistrates' court was told. Nobody was hurt.

Wilkinson, of High Cross Lane, Shelf, Halifax, tested positive at the roadside for cannabis and cocaine, the court was told. He pleaded guilty to careless driving and driving with benzoylecgonine (the main metabolite of cocaine) in his system. He has no previous convictions.

The court was told that it was a "one-off incident" and that Wilkinson had been to a party a few days before the crash when he had "naively consumed cocaine" and hadn't realised it would stay in his system for so long.

The court was told he was self-employed and worked in the motor vehicle trade. Therefore, a driving ban would have an impact on his working life.

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Magistrates told Wilkinson that what he had done was "stupid" but that he did not have a history of "bad behaviour."

He was fined 1,000, with a 400 surcharge and 85 costs. He was also banned from driving for 14 months.

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