Driver was hit after stopping to repair wiper
FORMER MINER, 89, DIED FROM INJURIES AFTER VAN COLLISION
AN elderly retired coal miner died when he stopped his car to make a temporary repair to his windscreen wiper and was struck by a van, an inquest heard.
William Arthur Francis Tonks, 89, had been on his way to a doctor’s appointment in the rain when his front driver’s windscreen wiper failed, so he pulled over and made a temporary repair with a piece of string.
His vehicle was stationary on the lefthand side of the road when the driver of a Fiat Ducato van, which was described as being in a poor condition, collided with Mr Tonks.
The van driver said in a statement that an elderly person was trying to open his car door and “I think I touched him with the mirror”.
A witness said the van started to fishtail and he saw something fly out in front of the van and land on the pavement. The van swerved and hit a silvercoloured car and blue car parked in front of the silver car.
CCTV did not cover the location of the collision, in Ravensdale Road, Mansfield, on August 27, 2020, and there was nothing to indicate precisely where Mr Tonks was positioned at the point of impact.
The collision caused “catastrophic injuries which resulted in his death”, said Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire.
Mr Clow recorded a conclusion of “road traffic collision” at an inquest at Nottingham’s Council House on Wednesday.
A police sergeant spoke about a police reconstruction of events and how it appeared Mr Tonks had encountered a problem with his windscreen wiper coming adrift and he had stopped in an appropriate place.
He tried to fix the wiper. During that time, the van approached. The officer was unable to say where Mr Tonks was as the van approached and at what point he became visible to the van driver.
The officer referred to a description from the van driver and a witness who saw the rear of the van fishtailing.
The officer said “that (the fishtailing) may or may not have been” as a result of a braking defect they found on the van or it could have been all four wheels locking, the reaction of the driver, or a combination of a variety of these scenarios.
The CPS considered pressing charges against the driver of the van.
The inquest heard charges were considered around the van’s dangerous condition.
The driver had bought the vehicle a short time before and the distance travelled was 53 miles from that time and the officer said: “It’s feasible he was unaware of the defects of the vehicle in particular a brake load sensing valve.”
The officer said the CPS was satisfied the speed of the van driver reduced to the speed limit before reaching the collision area and prior to any obvious reaction to Mr Tonk’s presence.
The van previously failed an MOT with an advisory on July 24, 2020, but then passed an MOT on August 8, 2020, before it was sold, after some defects were rectified.
The defects were problems with the braking system and tyre pressure. Mr Clow described the condition of the van as being poor.
He was encouraged and reassured there was an investigation into the MOT testing centre which issued the new MOT certificate. The sole MOT tester has since been disqualified from testing for five years.
It’s feasible the van driver was unaware of the defects of the vehicle.
Police officer