Family in caravan crash tragedy not wearing seatbelts
A young family who were flung from their car when a father lost control of the caravan he was towing were not wearing seatbelts, an inquest heard.
Patrick Nolan, 29, suffered fatal head injuries in the crash, while his 21-year-old wife Barbara and two-year-old son David were critically hurt.
The accident happened when the caravan began to weave, quickly causing it to flip and his Mitsubishi pick-up to roll over.
A post mortem revealed Mr Nolan had cocaine in his blood, which could have impaired his driving.
Serious collision investigators determined the caravan was also being towed at almost 70mph – nearly 10mph above the legal limit – and was probably too heavy for the towing vehicle which could have added to the loss of control.
The family had been staying at a caravan site Armed police were called after near Faversham and were on a man waving a knife drove the A2 near Canterbury last towards a crowd of people on an September heading to Europe
when the accident happened. army barracks housing estate.
Mrs Nolan suffered multiple Officers with guns and as many
fractures, while her son had as 15 patrol cars were mobilised serious head injuries because after terrified neighbours on the his child seat had not been Howe Barracks site in Cantersecured and he wasn’t strapped in.burycalled999lastnight.
One onlooker told how the man At an inquest on Tuesday drove up and down the street into Mr Nolan’s death, a couple holding the knife out of the wintold how they were overtaken dow before driving at a man he is believed to have had an altercation with.
As many as 20 children in the street are said to have run as the car hurtled towards them.
One woman was at her sister’s house in St Julien Avenue when she saw two men arguing.
“I grabbed one girl and told her to run home. The kids were terrified,” she said.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident but no injuries has been reported.
A 33-year-old from Canterbury was subsequently released without charge.
But a 34-year-old is now being questioned and inquiries are continuing into the circumstances. by him and saw the tragedy unfold.
They described Mr Nolan’s driving as “break-neck speed” and “he’s tanking it”.
Senior crash investigator PC Simon Masterson believed the cause of the collision was a combination of factors, including the speed of the coupling and the weighting of the caravan. But he also noted the ineffective over-braking system – designed to stop the caravan travelling faster than the towing vehicle – could have contributed.
Assistant coroner James Dillon recorded Mr Nolan died as a result of a road traffic collision.