I've held a full driving licence for 20 years, I am a professional driver with a professional occupation, a family man with a wife and 2 children, I never though a day like this day would ever happen to me.

I'm driving down a busy national speed limit dual carriageway in North Tyneside on a rainy August afternoon, it had just started to downpour following a sunny morning. I had my windscreen wipers on, visiblity was still very good and I could see well ahead on a long straight stretch of the road. Ahead I see another car in lane 1 and a couple of HGV's further ahead also in lane 1. I have all the time in the world and my mind is focused on my driving, I'm making steady progress, 50 mph change up into 5th gear after passing the car and reach approx 60 mph as I approach the rear offside of an HGV. I am in lane 2, the HGV is in lane 1 and I'm still assessing what is going on around me as I drive. Then without any warning, BANG! The front windscreen shatters on the nearside and there is glass everywhere and I instinctively hit the brakes, the wheels lock up and I cadence brake and look in my rear view mirror - my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach as I see what appears to be a child tumbling down the road behind me.

I manage to bring the car to a safe stop many yards from the impact point and I reach for my mobile phone. Experience & statistics have taught me that any collision with a pedestrian at that speed is going to be disastrous. I dial 999 and request an ambulance & police, as I get out of the car and run back up the road, feeling very sick as I just know what I am going to find. After what seems like forever I reach the spot only to have my worst fears confirmed. I go numb, unable to move. I can feel my legs start to tremble and I sit down at the roadside before I collapse.

The next few hours are a blur of blue lights, emergency services and I find out that the 17 year old female that my vehicle struck is dead - I can't even begin to describe the scale of sadness and range of emotions that I feel. The next few months are incredibly difficult for me to deal with as I honestly do not have a single clue what happened or where the poor girl came from. Although I am informed of the circumstances, I find it difficult to comprehend. I was relieved when the inquest came, so many questions were answered. The verdict was a tragic accident. I was cleared of any culpability. There were many witnesses including a close friend of the deceased, they gave evidence stating that I didn't stand a chance. The poor girl simply didn't appear to look properly before she ran out to cross the road. The sad twist is that the point she approached the roadside from a bushed area was the exact point she and I were both blindsided by the HGV and it was impossible for us to have seen each other. What doesn't seem to matter is that even when it is confirmed that you are not to blame it doesn't remove the sense of responsibility you feel for being directly involved in such circumstances.

This accident still troubles me 4 years on. I have to drive past the spot on a regular basis and feel a huge sense of sadness & uncomfortableness whenever I do. As a family man I can only imagine that the pain and loss suffered by her family would have been immense, every day my thoughts are with them. Sometimes 'accidents' DO occur - it is a terrible experience to be involved in. They say life goes on, I just wish it never had to end in such tragic circumstances and wish it wasn't as painful for those involved and those who love the people involved. To many this is just another statistic, for me it was a reality of nightmare proportions. What saddens me a lot is that it took another fatal collision in very similar circumstances at the same location almost a year to the day later before the local authority finally put fencing up to prevent pedestrians from crossing and hopefully put an end to the tragic loss of life that occurred here