Dad without seatbelt was thrown from his ‘poorly maintained’ van, inquest told
A dad who wasn’t wearing his seatbelt was thrown from his ‘poorly maintained’ van and died, an inquest has heard. Scott Stephenson, 40, from Bude[1], died after the van he was driving for work was involved in a single-vehicle crash on August 3, 2023.
An inquest held at Cornwall Coroner’s Court in Truro[2] today (April 11) heard how Scott was travelling along the A395 in Laneast, between Launceston[3] and Camelford, at 6:56am on the morning of the crash, when he lost control of his van on a bend and collided with a verge.
The inquest heard how the van “was not in a serviceable condition” with front tyres “well below” the legal limit, and dashcam footage showed that Scott would take the ‘racing line’ to maintain speed while driving. When police attended the scene, they discovered that Scott’s body had been thrown from the vehicle during the collision, suggesting that he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt at the time.
A-road closed after overnight fight[4]
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An autopsy conducted following his death concluded that Scott died of multiple injuries as a result of the crash. A toxicology report also deemed that there were “no significant findings” when it came to drugs or alcohol levels in his system.
The inquest heard that Scott was working as a delivery driver for ALM Couriers in Launceston at the time of his death and was familiar with the stretch of road as he used to drive along it every day as part of his usual route.
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A police report read out by motor patrol constable, Martyn Heath, from Camborne[6] Police Station, said that the condition of the road was wet due to heavy rainfall earlier that morning but there was natural daylight. However, MPC Heath said a vehicle examination of Scott’s work van found that it “was not in a serviceable condition” and front tyres “had not been reasonably well maintained”.
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He explained that this was due to the fact that both front tyres had tread patterns and depths which were “well below” the legal minimum of 1.6mm. However, it was deemed that it was the rear tyres of the van which had lost adhesion to the road, causing it to oversteer and meant Scott lost control. The vehicle examination found that the rear tyres did have sufficient tread depth and there were no other faults with the van.
Dashcam footage from Scott’s van was also played during the inquest and showed the journey he had made that morning since starting work, including the moments leading up to the crash. While it was not clear at what speed he was travelling, his van was limited to 50mph.
The video did show, however, that on several occasions when he approached a bend, Scott would drive in the middle of the road along the ‘racing lines’, which MPC Heath suggested meant that Scott wanted to “maintain” his speed. This was also the case on the final approach to the left-hand bend where he lost control of his van and at one point, the footage showed he was driving on the opposite side of the road.
Adrian Roberts, from Cornwall Council[8] ’s highway contractor, Cormac, told the inquest that there had only been one other fatal crash on the same bend in five years. He added that there was clear signage on the approach to the bend and that while Cormac had considered adding chevrons there as an extra warning, it was deemed that this was not necessary.
He told the inquest: “Mr Stephenson was familiar with the road and would drive it regularly. The concern would be if there was a consistent misjudgement from other drivers who were not aware of that road.”
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While there were concerns raised during the inquest about the condition of the van before the crash, Scott’s employer, Alex Morgan, said that it was mainly the responsibility of each driver to check their vans and report any defaults.
He added that the company hires a mechanic to come and inspect the vans every Monday morning to check tyres and brake pads. While official records of the checks were not kept at the time of Scott’s death, Mr Morgan said changes to practices were made and records are now kept.
Tributes paid by Scott’s heartbroken family following his death described him as a much-loved father, partner and son, who was a “friendly, and outgoing character who would do anything for anyone”.
The family said at the time: “Scott Stephenson from Bude Cornwall, died suddenly on the morning of August 3 2023, taken too early. Scott was a much-loved father, partner, and son. He lived his life working hard to provide for and support his family, who he loved unconditionally.
“Scott did not take life seriously and everyone knew him as a larger-than-life, friendly, and outgoing character who would do anything for anyone. He will be sadly missed.”
Guy Davies, assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, recorded a conclusion which stated that Scott died from multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic collision. He said that while the front tyres of Scott’s van were defective, the rear tyres were what caused him to lose control and they were in good condition. Therefore, he said he did not consider the vehicle condition a factor in the conclusion.
He said: “Driver error was to blame for this RTC. Based on the dashcam footage we have seen, Scott regularly adopted the ‘racing line’ in order to maintain and maximise speed.
“Scott was taking the racing line on the approach to the bend where he crashed and at one point was on the other side of the road. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time and as the police statement says, had he been wearing one, he may not have died.”
References
- ^ Bude (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Truro (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Launceston (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ A-road closed after overnight fight (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Big emergency service search for ‘person in water’ (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Camborne (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ here (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Cornwall Council (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsApp (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ Privacy Notice (www.reachplc.com)