PRAISE FOR ALL WHO HELPED AT SCENE OF CRASH WHICH KILLED A MUM AND SON
A CORONER has commended residents and passersby for their quick response to a crash which killed a mother and her son. The double fatal crash with a lorry on the A1077 at Barrow-Upon-Humber caused the deaths of 70-year-old Jean Kay and her son Richard, 44.
The Vauxhall Mokka in which they were passengers was being driven by Jean’s husband, Geoff.
The family were travelling to Louth to visit relatives and had just stopped off at The Ropewalk at Barton for refreshments before continuing through Barrow-upon-Humber. Mr Kay, who was following a satnav device, failed to stop his Vauxhall Mokka at the junction with Wold Road and was struck on the passenger side by a 44-tonne Volvo lorry driven by Andrew Mawson. Residents poured out to the junction following the crash shortly before mid-day on August 16 and attempted to revive the mother and son.
But sadly Jean Kay, a retired mobile hairdresser, and her teacher son were both were pronounced dead at the scene. Collision investigators told the inquest at Cleethorpes Town Hall that a retired police superintendent and off-duty police inspector were among those first on the scene to give first aid. Assistant coroner Jane Eatock said: “I commend them and thank them for their public-spirited action. It is always good to see people doing what they can.”
She added: “People helped tremendously.”
She concluded both the mother and son from York died accidental deaths arising from a road traffic collision.
Post mortem examination details revealed both had died from multiple injuries sustained in the side-on impact with with the lorry. A statement from eyewitness ness Lindsay Hutson, 32, was read to the coroner’s roner’s court, in which she described the Vauxhall uxhall Mokka failing to stop at the junction.
“He totally ignored the sign n and drove straight through the junction. He was hit by the HGV,” she said.
She added: “There was no way anyone would get any advanced view from the truck. It struck along the side and went up in the air and landed on the grass verge on the other side of the road.”
She told how she saw first aiders give CPR to Mrs Kay after she was lifted from the rear seat.
Collision investigator Steve Youngson said Mr Kay could not recall the collision. He said no criminal proceedings were taken against the driver, who lost his wife and son in the crash.
The Crown Prosecution Service had also decided not to prosecute the lorry driver who was driving his Volvo at slightly above the speed limit.
The officer said the CPS had decided “it was not in the public interest to pursue prosecution.”
Mr Kay, 73, had surrendered his driving licence and had not driven since, said Mr Youngson.
Jean Kay’s sister Elizabeth Richardson told the hearing: “We do not blame Geoff. I just want closure. We are still close. This will not separate us. He is still part of our family.” She told how her nephew Richard worked in a special school near York for children with learning difficulties.
Collision investigator Darrell McPherson said the junction of Thornton Street and Wold Road was well signposted and there were plenty of advanced warning signs. He said the lorry driver was travelling at around 40mph, in the 30mph limit but had only been faced with a split second time to react. In her summary, the assistant coroner said there had been insufficient time for Mr Mawson to avoid a collision.
She said Mr Kay had not slowed or stopped at the junction.
“We do not know why he did not stop. We have no clue. It was a momentary lapse in concentration and we do not have an explanation why,” she said.