'Crash with speeding driver left my life on hold'

A 21-year-old man who spent four months in a critical condition after a crash with a speeding driver said his life has been put on hold.

Fletcher Rice said he now struggles with walking, jumping, running and playing his guitar, following the crash at Chipping Hill in Whitham on 17 August 2025.

Essex Police said the crash on the pedestrian crossing "could easily have been fatal".

Conner Phillips, 22, of Mann Close, Witham, was driving at 53mph in a 30mph zone on the wrong side of the road when the crash happened. He admitted dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving and was sentenced in June to two years in jail.

Before the crash, Rice had just qualified as a chef and was looking forward to going on his first holiday with friends.

However, the crash left him with serious head injuries and fractures to his pelvis, shoulder, collarbone, arm, and finger.

He now struggles to play the guitar. He said: "The whole left hand, the fingers don't work very quick so I can't play the same stuff that I could."

Rice said the crash has changed his life forever, adding: "If he didn't hit me, I'd be driving, I'd be working - I'd be normal [and] it is frustrating.

"I was just going to live my life. Now my life's been put on hold."

But he said his dad, Keith, has told him to put his energy towards getting better rather than anger towards the driver.

Following the sentencing of Phillips of Mann Close, Witham, Adam Pipe, from Essex Police said: "I want to pay tribute to the determination and resilience of the victim and his family as he tries to recover from this horrific incident.

"His [Phillips'] selfishness means the victim in this case now faces a future of extensive rehabilitation and a life that looks very different to how it did a year ago."

Rice's story is part of a campaign by Safer Essex Roads Partnership which targets young drivers, asking them to rethink their speed.

The No Respawns campaign uses gaming terminology to show the consequences of dangerous driving. The partnership has also teamed up with Essex content creators to help spread the message.

William Cubbin, manager, said: "We want to make that contrast that in computer games you do get second chances but in fact in real life there are no second chances."

He said a lot of young people do not perceive the risk associated with speeding because "there is a feeling of invulnerability when you are behind a wheel and in a car."

But he added: "There are real life-changing, life-long consequences of that speed. "

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