Susan Jane WHITTLES · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 29th November 2023 I commenced an investigation into the death of Susan Jane WHITTLES, aged 70 years. The investigation has not yet concluded, an inquest has not been heard. However, a criminal prosecution took place.

On Friday 24th November 2023 at 1500 hours a road traffic collision occurred at the B1253 crossroad junction of Thwing Road and Burton Road near Rudston in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Two vehicles were involved in the collision, a grey Audi A6 VRM ████████ driven by ████████ and a red Volkswagen T-Roc VRM ████████ driven by Mrs Susan Jane WHITTLES. ████████ failed to give way at the crossroads and subsequently collided with the offside of Mrs WHITTLES vehicle which had right of way. As a consequence of the collision Mrs WHITTLES sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. Mrs WHITTLES’ husband, ████████, who was a front seat passenger was trapped in the vehicle and seriously injured.

On 10th June 2025 ████████ originally pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mrs WHITTLES whilst unlicensed and uninsured, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and the matter was set down for trial. At that stage he was given an interim disqualification. Subsequently, on 23rd February 2026 ████████ pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mrs WHITTLES by dangerous driving, causing serious injury to her husband ████████ by dangerous driving and causing the death of Mrs WHITTLES whilst unlicensed. ████████ was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment and an 11 year driving ban (with extended re-test required).

████████ is a Nigerian national who came to the UK to live on 15th September 2022. At that time ████████ held a current Nigerian driving licence which was valid in Great Britain for 12 months from the date he entered the country and became resident (15th September 2022 until 14th September 2023).

The DVLA issued ████████ a provisional GB licence on 27th June 2023, and to ensure continuous driving he was required to pass a GB driving test before 14th September 2023.

████████ failed to do this and at the time of the fatal collision on 24th November 2023, was a provisional GB licence holder only.

Records held by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) showed ████████ took and passed his theory test on 13th July 2023. However, DVSA records show ████████ failed his practical driving test 6 times (17/07/2023, 18/09/2023, 14/12/2023, 02/01/2024, 25/01/2024 and 04/03/2025) before passing on 21st March 2025.

While driving on his national licence, ████████ failed his GB practical driving test twice before the fatal collision, then a further 4 times after the fatal collision. It is also noted that he continued to drive beyond the 12 month limit on his national licence despite those failures.

As stated above, on Friday 24th November 2023 at 1500 hours a road traffic collision occurred at the B1253 crossroad junction of Thwing Road and Burton Road near Rudston in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Two vehicles were involved in the collision, a grey Audi A6 VRM ████████ driven by ████████ and a red Volkswagen T-Roc VRM ████████ driven by Mrs Susan Jane WHITTLES. ████████ failed to give way at the crossroads and subsequently collided with the offside of Mrs WHITTLES vehicle which had right of way. As a consequence of the collision Mrs WHITTLES sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. Mrs WHITTLES’ husband, ████████, who was a front seat passenger was trapped in the vehicle and seriously injured.
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(1) The DVSA recognise that some countries driving/test standards are equivalent to those of Great Britain and therefore their citizens can drive on GB roads. Non-designated countries are not recognised as such, and nationals of those countries are expected to take a GB driving test within 12 months of being within Great Britain.
(2) Nationals of non-designated countries who fail a GB driving test are not treated in the same way as a GB resident who fails a GB driving test. A GB resident is not allowed to drive without appropriate supervision and when they are driving they must display L plates to act as a warning to other vehicles of their inexperience.
(3) If a national of a non-designated country fails any number of driving tests within the 12 month period they are still able to revert and rely on their 12 month limit to drive on their foreign/international licence in the UK, despite not meeting the safety standards set by the DVSA.
(4) There appears no provision for an examiner to withdraw the ability to drive without appropriate supervision despite a person’s failure to meet the required standards.
(5) 12 months ability to drive for those who do not meet required standards have the potential to cause a risk of serious injury or harm to other road users.