Football fan run over after warning flash blinded driver
A MOTORIST ran over and killed a man when he was blindsided by a flash of lights from another driver trying to warn him of the pedestrian in the road.
Retired merchant navy captain Keith Wrightson died of massive chest injuries in front of his distraught son, an inquest was told.
Mr Wrightson, 62, tripped and fell into the road while walking home from a football match on a dark winter evening.
Teacher Danielle Fardoe saw him fall and flashed to warn oncoming drivers. But businessman Vignesh Chandrasekar, 40, may have suffered “disability glare”.
He was “blindsided” by the flashing and ploughed over Mr Wrightson in his BMW X1.
The victim’s son Luke, 33, had been
waving frantically in front of his dad but had to dive out of the way. Mr Chandrasekar told the inquest in Northallerton, North Yorks, that he did not see Luke and by the time he saw Mr Wrightson lying in the road in
Scarborough, it was too late. Another driver and local resident brought jacks to lift the vehicle as Luke screamed: “Dad, Dad, he’s dead, he’s gone.”
A forensic pathologist said he was killed by the impact, which caused chest injuries and 49 rib fractures.
Luke, also a merchant seaman, had been watching Scarborough Athletic.
Trapped
He said: “Dad was just ahead of me when he lost his footing and started to stagger towards the road. I tried to stop him but unfortunately I was not able to. He went down on to the road, lying perpendicular with his head to the centre of the road.”
Luke said the car clipped his trailing leg as he took avoiding action. He climbed off the grass verge to discover his father trapped beneath the vehicle.
Miss Fardoe told the hearing how she flashed as she passed the father and son on the opposite carriageway on January 4, 2020.
But Mr Chandrasekar said: “A single flash turned to frantic flashing. I was puzzled as to why that might be.
“I looked at the controls of my vehicle, including my lights in case they were on full beam. I also checked for warning lights in case there was something wrong with my vehicle.”
Police accident investigator Sgt Ken Riley said Mr Chandrasekar may have had “disability glare” caused by bright oncoming headlights.
He said recovery time was between three and five seconds for drivers.
Bradford-born Mr Wrightson died just weeks before the birth of his granddaughter. In a statement, his widow Gill said: “We loved each other dearly and I thought we would grow old together.”
The hearing was adjourned.