A47 bus deaths: Inquest finds driver was drowsy before crash
Michael Elcombe, 45, was driving a First Eastern Counties service between Peterborough and Norwich when it collided with an HGV on the A47.
Mr Elcombe of Cley Road, Swaffham, died at the scene of the crash[1] on June 26, 2018.
Passenger Brian Chapman, 76, from Kettering, also died at the scene, while 17 others were injured, six of them seriously.
On Tuesday, lorry driver Tyrone Mundell-Phipps told an inquest into their deaths he expected the bus driver to see him as he pulled out of the Bretts Transport yard between Thorney and Guyhirn.
The court heard he believed the bus driver would have ample time to react to his presence and slow down or stop.
But Mr Elcombe did not brake as the lorry crossed the path of his bus, which a police report said was travelling at a steady speed of 53mph.
Cambridgeshire coroner Simon Milburn heard evidence that Mr Elcombe had previously fallen asleep at the wheel[2].
Summing up at Peterborough Town Hall on Wednesday, Mr Milburn said he was satisfied that prior to the collision Mr Elcombe had been “inattentive due to drowsiness or fatigue” to the extent that he did not notice the lorry until “the very last second” before the crash.
CCTV footage from inside the vehicle appeared to show him yawning and having an unusual grip on the steering wheel in the seconds immediately before the impact.
Mr Milburn said both Mr Elcombe and Mr Chapman, who was a passenger on the upper deck, suffered multiple traumatic injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
He concluded both of their deaths resulted from a road traffic collision.
References
- ^ Mr Elcombe of Cley Road, Swaffham, died at the scene of the crash (www.edp24.co.uk)
- ^ Mr Elcombe had previously fallen asleep at the wheel (www.edp24.co.uk)