Dad, 51, who died in Glynn Valley crash veered into the wrong side of the road
A dad's death in a car crash in Cornwall will never fully be explained, an inquest has heard. Zhudi Chen, 51, was involved in a collision on the A38 in April of last year. The crash occurred between Bodmin Parkway train station and the Halfway House in the Glynn Valley at around 12.30pm on Sunday, April 28.
Police confirmed at the time that a man in his 50s had died and four others were injured in the crash.[1] An inquest was held at Cornwall's Coroners Court in Truro[2] today (Tuesday, March 25) to establish the circumstances surrounding Mr Chen's death and the results of an investigation. The court hearing was told how there were several witnesses to the crash, which occurred on a busy road.
One witness was travelling home following a trip to Cornwall and said the silver Honda Jazz hatchback driven by Mr Chen appeared as if it "speeded up" at the last second and was driven directly into a red truck which had "nowhere to go". The driver of the second vehicle, a red Nissan Navara pick-up truck, reported "such a loud bang" and said it was nearly immediately head-on. They said it was around two seconds from seeing Mr Chen's car's deviation on the 50mph road until the point of impact.
All occupants of that vehicle were transported to hospital with injuries but survived. Join CornwallLive on WhatsApp and be first to hear what's happening near you[3] A police investigation found Mr Chen's car crossed the single-painted white line and a head-on collision followed.
Mr Chen suffered fatal injuries at the scene while the other car's occupants suffered serious injuries including a punctured lung, broken bones and a perforated bowel. Investigations found there were no faults with Mr Chen's vehicle and that, while there was a serious fault with the Nissan Navara, it would not have been a contributory factor due to the nature of the collision. There were also no road defects found.
In his conclusion, senior coroner Andrew Cox said Mr Chen was driving at a reasonable speed but for some unknown reason then seemingly drove into the wrong lane. He said that while he was not happy that a significant mechanical failure was found in the second vehicle, he accepted that it had no bearing on the result of the crash given it was Mr Chen's car that veered to the wrong side of the road. Mr Cox said there was no evidence to suggest Mr Chen had made an intentional decision to crash that day nor was there any to suggest he had been using his mobile phone at the time.
He recorded a conclusion of death by road traffic collision but could not be sure of the exact circumstances of how the collision which took Mr Chen's life had occurred.
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References
- ^ 50s had died and four others were injured in the crash. (www.cornwalllive.com)
- ^ Truro (www.cornwalllive.com)
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