Van crash death man hit while walking down middle of road
39-YEAR-OLD KILLED INSTANTLY IN ‘UNAVOIDABLE COLLISION’
ACAR salesman was killed instantly in an “unavoidable” collision as he walked home from a night out.
Anthony Brown, 39, sustained “major traumatic injuries” when he was struck by a car as he walked in the middle of the road between Tywyn and Bryncrug.
Mr Brown had been visiting Tywyn, Gwynedd, from his hometown of Wolverhampton when the incident occurred on the A493 on October 5, 2019.
An inquest into his death heard he had been staying in Bryncrug but had gone out to various pubs in Tywyn during the evening.
He was walking back to his B&B at around 9.45pm when he was hit by a Mercedes Vito van being driven by Samuel Oliver.
Mr Oliver was travelling home with his brother having been to see a show in Llandudno earlier in the evening.
Giving evidence at the inquest in Caernarfon, Mr Oliver said it was dark and “raining heavily” and he did not see Mr Brown due to poor visibility.
He said: “I didn’t see him but I knew instantly that I hadn’t hit a bird or an animal. The thud was unbelievable.
“He just appeared out of nowhere. All I can remember is my windscreen shattering and seeing the glass coming towards me.
“I knew just by the sound that I had hit a person. It was a massive impact.
“I stopped around 50 metres from where it happened and I was literally hanging off my seat in shock while my brother tried to console me.”
Mr Oliver said he was unable to have his full beam headlights on due to an oncoming vehicle in the distance.
Shortly before the collision, a member of the public had called North Wales Police to report that there was a man walking in the middle of the road.
Toxicology reports showed that Mr Brown was two times over the drink driving limit.
Speaking at the inquest, forensic collision investigator Emma Dainty said: “The impact was unsurvivable. Mr Brown was wearing dark clothing and walking towards traffic on the carriageway line.
“From witness reports, we know that he had been able to get out of the way of other vehicles prior to the collision but had been seen ‘zig-zagging’ in the road.
“It is possible that due to being intoxicated he could have been stumbling around and lost his balance but for whatever reason he chose not to walk on the footpath.
“It could be that he did not know there was a footpath with him not being from the area.
“The weather was awful. It was dark with no street lighting. Mr Oliver was unable to have his full beam headlights on because of another vehicle and Mr Brown was wearing dark clothing.
“It is unlikely that Mr Oliver would have been able to stop and he would not have been expecting to see a pedestrian in the road.
“In my opinion, it was an unavoidable collision.”
Assistant coroner Katie Sutherland concluded that Mr Brown died of multiple major traumatic injuries that were immediately fatal.
Both Mr Oliver and his brother were uninjured in the incident and Mr Oliver was found to have no traces of alcohol or drugs in his system.
Mr Brown’s family were unable to attend the inquest but thanked everyone for their ongoing support following the tragic accident.