Puncture caused death crash

A SLOW puncture caused a truck driver to lose control of his vehicle and plough into a 32-ton articulated lorry, an inquest heard.

James Johnston, of Greenbank Avenue, Saltdean, died instantly when his Toyota pick-up collided with the Scania lorry on the A26 near Beddingham. The 49-year-old welder suffered serious fractures to the skull, spine and ribs in the early morning smash in February this year. Police crash investigators found that the front nearside tyre of the Toyota was at a pressure of less than 10 pounds per square inch more than three times lower than it should have been. They also found a small puncture hole in the tyre and the freshly made imprint of a nail or screw in the rubber. Coroner Alan Craze said the punture may have happened during Mr Johnston s previous journey in the truck. He added that it would have been almost impossible to spot the flat tyre by eye because the hard walls of the tyres would have disguised any deflation. He said the heavy steering, plus the flat tyre causing the truck to veer to the left, would have caused the vehicle to spin out and broad side as Mr Johnston tried to drive round the right hand bend. The driver of the Scania lorry, Andrew Carr, ofWest Sussex, shook and was close to tears as he described the accident. He told how he turned the bend to see the pick-up truck coming at his lorry side on. I only had a couple of seconds before it was all over, he said. I saw the silhouette of the pick-up truck veering sideways. My insticts were to put the brakes on but there was nowhere to go. He said his tipper lorry had more or less stopped by the time of impact, but added that the Toyota continued into the Scania. It was coming broad side and was taking up the whole of the road. I had no time to even move over. Mr Craze said there was absolutely nothing Mr Carr could have done to avoid the collision . He added: The cause of this tragic accident is quite simply the slow puncture in the tyre. It doesn t seem reasonably possible that the driver of the Toyota would have noticed it before the journey. Verdict: Accidental death. Published: 24.8.01 T R Beckett Ltd

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