Teenager, 17, died after Ford Fiesta suddenly broke down on M1 motorway – before being hit by car

Elise Thomas, 17, was a passenger in a Ford Fiesta that broke down on the motorway as she and three friends were on their way to a gig, when another vehicle ploughed into the back of the car

An “amazingly talented” teenage girl died on a motorway after the Ford Fiesta she was travelling in broke down, and was subsequently smashed by another car.

Elise Thomas, 17, was a passenger in the Fiesta that was struck by another vehicle after it had suddenly broken down on the M1. The front tyre of the Fiesta had frayed and come off, and within minutes of Elise and her two friends waiting for assistance, another car ploughed into the back of the vehicle.

The force of the impact sent the car spinning to one side. Elise sustained life-threatening injuries while one of her friends was left seriously hurt. Full details of the incident emerged during a trial at Hull Crown Court, where the driver of the other vehicle was charged with causing Elise’s death by careless driving and causing serious injury to the other passenger by careless driving on 12 August 2023.

READ MORE: Oleksandr Usyk didn’t even blink when asked who’d win Anthony Joshua vs Tyson FuryREAD MORE: Road rage horror as driver allegedly ‘mows down teen on e-bike’ after furious argument

Jeremy Barton, prosecuting, explained that at around 8.15am, the driver left her Dewsbury home with her friends to travel to Doncaster to watch The Vamps – “a band they all liked and followed”. They were travelling in a maroon or red Ford Fiesta, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Elise was seated in the front passenger seat, while the other passenger was positioned directly behind her in the rear nearside seat. The group joined the M1 at Junction 40, where four running lanes were in operation at that point. The car was overtaking a lorry and was roughly halfway past it when the Fiesta “began to make a rumbling sound” and the front offside tyre came away from the rim or wheel. “Pieces of the tyre started to come apart,” said Mr Barton.

“The remainder of the tyre began to bounce in front of the Fiesta.” The driver brought the car to a stop in lane three and attempted to work out what to do about the vehicle being stranded on the main carriageway.

“Traffic was still passing by at motorway speed,” said Mr Barton. The drivers of 16 vehicles managed to spot and navigate around the stationary car, just before the southbound Junction 39, in the Wakefield area.

However, about 29 seconds after the Fiesta came to a stop, a silver Vauxhall Corsa, which had just overtaken another vehicle and moved back into lane three, ploughed into the rear of the broken-down Fiesta. It was not alleged to have been speeding, but it failed to slow down or show any signs of braking and “drove directly into the rear of the car”.

The prosecution argued that the driver could not have been paying attention to the road ahead. The Fiesta carrying the three friends was sent spinning into lanes one and two before coming to a standstill.

Both the Fiesta driver and the Corsa driver managed to get out of their vehicles. Elise and the other passenger were trapped inside the car before being freed by other people, who stopped their cars and ran to help, along with the fire service. “Elise Thomas died in hospital, from the injuries that she suffered, at 11.45pm on 18 August 2023,” Mr Barton confirmed. The second passenger sustained life-changing injuries.

CCTV footage captured elements of the incident, including the Fiesta’s front tyre beginning to deteriorate and the vehicle rolling along the road before coming to a halt. The defence argued that the Corsa driver may have experienced a phenomenon known as “looming” at the time of the collision.

This condition could have impaired his ability to gauge how rapidly objects were approaching him – or how quickly he was closing in on them. It is possible the driver was almost upon the obstruction before he noticed it.

He told officers he believed the lane in front of him was clear, yet CCTV footage proved otherwise. “He did not see the vehicle at all – for whatever reason, we cannot say,” Mr Barton stated.

The trial of the 51-year-old Leeds driver was halted midway through proceedings. Following the judge’s direction, he was acquitted of all charges and the jury was dismissed.

Following Elise’s death, her devastated family released a tribute, saying: “Elise was a beautiful soul. She was an inspiration to others and was amazingly talented with her photography.

“Even at such a young age, she was successful. Everything she touched turned to gold.” Alongside her love of crafts, her greatest passion was wildlife photography.