Lorry driver suffered fatal spine injury
AN HGV driver died after careering into an oil tanker at 30mph, an inquest heard.
Stephen Crosbie-Fawcett suffered a fatal spinal injury in the smash on Oil Sites Road in Ellesmere Port last October.
He did not brake when the oil tanker in front of his vehicle stopped at a red light – and hit it at 30mph.
Mr Crosbie-Fawcett, a father-ofone from Leigh, Wigan, was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown into the windscreen.
His wife, Nicola, told a hearing at Chester magistrates court he had been driving HGVs for 14 years and regularly travelled the same routes.
Mr Crosbie-Fawcett, 40, suffered from ankylosing spondylitis – inflammation of the spine – following a car accident when he was younger.
The condition limited his movement, but did not affect his work, Mrs Crosbie-Fawcett said.
Colin Benyon, who was driving the oil tanker, said Mr Crosbie-Fawcett’s Eddie Stobard truck crashed into him at around 1pm on October 6.
He said that after he stopped at traffic lights near Innospec Manufacturing Park, there was an ‘almighty bang,’ which propelled his truck forward around 65ft. Mr Benyon, who suffered minor injuries, jumped out of his vehicle and attempted to divert traffic. Helped by workers from the nearby manufacturing park, he pulled Mr Crosbie-Fawcett from his truck, fearing it may have caught fire. Mr Crosbie-Fawcett later died in hospital. A postmortem revealed he died from a spinal fracture, caused by the crash and exacerbated by his existing condition.
Pc Robert Wilson said Mr Crosbie-Fawcett’s HGV did not slow down before hitting Mr Benyon’s.
There was no evidence of any vehicle failure – and there was a warning sign 100m before the traffic lights.
Mrs Crosbie-Fawcett read a note on her family’s behalf at the end of the hearing. She said: “We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved on that day. It’s a day we will never forget.”
Assistant coroner for Cheshire, Dr Janet Napier, delivered a conclusion of death from road traffic collision.
We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved on that day Nicola Crosbie-Fawcett, Stephen’s wife