News

Grieving Dad Asks Every Driver to Watch the Exact Moment His Wife & Kids Were Killed

NewsPublished Aug 30, 2019
By Genny Glassman
family killed by truck driverNorth Wales Live

The problem of distracted driving is real, and it is on the rise. As it creates more and more accidents on the road, leading to serious injuries and even death, safety advocates are continually speaking out about its dangers. But few have been quite as passionate as Mark Goldsmith, a UK dad who is asking people to watch the exact moment he lost his family in a car accident -- one that could have easily been avoided, had the driver not been distracted at the time.

The fatal crash happened in 2015, when truck driver Tomasz Kroker became distracted while scrolling through music on his phone.-placeholder
The fatal crash happened in 2015, when truck driver Tomasz Kroker became distracted while scrolling through music on his phone.
North Wales Live

The fatal crash happened in 2015, when truck driver Tomasz Kroker became distracted while scrolling through music on his phone.

Kroker reportedly looked down for "only a minute" when he collided with a car being driven by Goldsmith's partner, Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and his own daughter Aimee, 11. It was a minute, however, that proved fatal.

By chance, Goldsmith was riding in a car behind them at the time with his son Jake, as the blended family came home from vacation. Little did he know that he'd soon witness the worst moment of his life, right before his very eyes. 

The collision caused all four passengers -- Houghton, her two sons, and Goldsmith's daughter -- to die on impact.

The horrified father "staggered" out of his own vehicle to check on his family, but it was already too late.-placeholder
The horrified father "staggered" out of his own vehicle to check on his family, but it was already too late.
North Wales Live

The horrified father "staggered" out of his own vehicle to check on his family, but it was already too late.

"I started sobbing," Goldsmith told a reporter three months after the accident. "I threw up," he added, before confirming that "they had died instantly."

Goldsmith described the scene as "total carnage," and said it still haunts him to this day. 

"I still see it every night when I go to sleep and when I wake up," he shared. "I relive that moment every day. One big bang and they weren't there any more." 

Jake, who also witnessed the crash, has been traumatized by the loss in his own ways, as well.

As for Kroker, he is serving a 10-year prison sentence as of August 10, 2016. A judge in his trial noted that his judgment had been so poor on the day of the accident that he "might as well have had his eyes closed" while driving, the Daily Mail reported

But still, surviving family members call the sentence an "insult."

"No sentence would have been sufficient," Doug Houghton, the father of Ethan and Josh, said in November 2016. "It’s not going to bring our kids back."

"I thought that was the worst day of my life, my kids being killed," Houghton told North Wales Live in August 2019. "But I think it was three weeks later when I went to the funeral director's and actually saw them, dead, cold, in their coffins."

It's for this reason that the family is urging other drivers to watch the devastating dash cam footage of the 2015 accident.

Although it's been four years since the tragedy claimed their loved ones, both the Houghtons and the Goldsmiths are using their pain to try to do some good. The families have recently teamed up with Surrey Police in the UK to release the footage of the crash, as well as provided testimonials, sharing how the accident has changed their lives.

"I continue to see drivers using their phones and it sickens me," Kate Goldsmith, Aimee's mom, explained in the new video.

"If they had seen the devastation they brought my family, or to other families, by using phones, illegally. .. distracting themselves from driving a potential weapon ..." she continued. "Would they be as sickened as we are?"

Indeed, it's hard to watch the footage and not be moved by the events on screen. Those mere seconds -- and the aftermath -- are a sobering reminder that a text can wait and music can play itself. There is never a reason to take your eyes off the road while driving -- for your sake and for the sake of other drivers.

driving
Cafemom Logo
This is motherhood #nofilter

AboutTermsContactPrivacyPRIVACY SETTINGSSUBMIT A STORY
© 2024 WILD SKY MEDIA.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PART OF WILD SKY MEDIA
| FAMILY & PARENTING
CAFEMOMMAMÁSLATINAS
LITTLETHINGSMOM.COM
This site is owned and operated by Bright Mountain Media, Inc., a publicly owned company trading with the symbol: BMTM.