Coroner’s findings on death

A CORONER has handed down his findings into the death of a Kings Meadows man killed in a crash on the Midland Highway while he was driving his family to a church service in Hobart in 2016.

In his findings released yesterday, Coroner Simon Cooper said David Alan Smith, 53, was driving his wife and four adult children south on the Midland Highway near Longford just after 8am on December 18, 2016, when Dwayne Albert Cashman, driving in the opposite direction, crashed into Mr Smith’s station wagon.

Mr Cooper said Cashman had spent the previous evening drinking with a friend in Hobart and had slept for less than three hours before driving north.

“The vehicle he was driving drifted into the gravel on the left side, commenced to spin clockwise, crossed into the opposite lane and smashed into the vehicle Mr Smith was driving,” he said.

“Mr Smith suffered horrific injuries and died at the scene.”

Mr Cooper said Mr Smith’s wife was critically injured and three of the other passengers were badly injured.

Cashman pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, four counts of causing grievous bodily harm by dangerous driving and one count of drink driving. He was sentenced to 3½ years’ jail and disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for four years after his release from prison.

Mr Cooper said a forensic scientist calculated Cashman had a blood alcohol reading of at least 0.086g of alcohol per 100ml of blood at the time of the crash and police calculated Cashman was travelling at 140km/h at the time. Mr Cooper said Mr Smith was travelling below the speed limit and no alcohol or illicit substances were found in his body.