Head-on smash driver had a medical episode at wheel: inquest
A HEAD-ON town centre accident that claimed the life of a bus driver was likely to have occurred because he had a medical episode at the wheel, an inquest has heard.
84-year-old Derek Salt, a bus driver from Wootton, died instantly when his Seat Ibiza collided with a Volkswagen Golf in The Green Road, Ashbourne, near Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School.
Witnesses to the accident, which occurred just before 3pm on Tuesday, September 1, say they saw Mr Salt slumped at the wheel as his car sped up the road, its engine revving, before it hit the Volkswagen head-on.
Accident investigators told Wednesday’s Derby Coroner’s Court hearing that Mr Salt’s car was travelling at 52mph when it overtook a Mazda, clipping its side, before hitting the Volkswagen.
The woman driving the Volkswagen, which was travelling at about 25mph, only noticed Mr Salt’s car heading towards her when it was just three carlengths away and she was unable to react in time.
She suffered a fractured ankle and her children, who were passengers in the car, suffered minor cuts and bruises. Deputy coroner Louise Pinder explained that, due to the catastrophic nature of Mr Salt’s chest injury, he would have died instantly and it was very likely he was unconscious before the crash, because of a medical episode.
The driver of the Mazda was uninjured.
Emergency services, including an air ambulance, attended the scene and the road was closed off for several hours.
The inquest heard that Mr Salt, who was not wearing a seatbelt, had not taken any substances that would have led to his sudden loss of consciousness, and no specific medical causes were found during a postmortem examination.
Ms Pinder explained that it is probable that the cause of a sudden loss of consciousness might not be evident during an autopsy.
Concluding the inquest, she said: “It is likely that Mr Salt had been rendered incapacitated as a result of an acute medical episode and, as a result, lost control of his vehicle.
“The drivers of the other vehicles involved were unable to do anything to avoid the collision.
“Mr Salt sadly died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the collision.”