Distraction at the wheel caused crash
INATTENTION or distraction were the most likely reasons for a sportscar driver to lose control of his MG convertible and career across the road into the path of an oncoming vehicle, a coroner heard. Despite extensive inquiries though, investigators were
INATTENTION or distraction were the most likely reasons for a sportscar driver to lose control of his MG convertible and career across the road into the path of an oncoming vehicle, a coroner heard.
Despite extensive inquiries though, investigators were unable to determine why 36-year-old Stephen Young drifted across into the opposite lane of traffic after successfully negotiating a left-hand bend on the B1041 at Mill Common in St Neots.
Mr Young, a European project manager from Ouse Walk, St Ives, died from multiple injuries at Hinchingbrooke Hospital following the crash on July 24 last year.
The most likely cause of the collision was the inattention or distraction on the part of the MG driver, according to police investigator Pc Paul Symonds.
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When asked by Mr Young's father whether his son may have swerved to avoid an animal in the road, the officer said there was no sign of any such impact.
The driver of the oncoming Renault Clio, Chris Ritchie of Longsands Road, St Neots, described the MG as travelling around 50mph when "all of a sudden it twitched and came onto my side of the road. I had no time to do anything about it."
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Mr Ritchie, who had two friends in his father's car and was heading into St Neots, said the MG had appeared to have got safely round the bend, before it crossed into the oncoming lane.
Witness Sarah Williams, of Little Paxton, was behind the Clio and said the MG had given her no cause for concern when she spotted it prior to the loss of control.
In recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner David Morris said: "Having negotiated a bend at a reasonable speed and in a reasonable manner, for some reason the MG careered across the road directly into the path of the Renault Clio, driven by Chris Ritchie, who tried to take some avoiding action, unsuccessfully.
