TRIPLE DEATH CRASH HORROR
THREE DADS DIED IN EARLY HOURS CITY SMASH AFTER DRIVER CONSUMED ALCOHOL AND CANNABIS, INQUEST HEARS
A DRIVER and two of his friends were killed when his car collided head-on with a lorry, an inquest heard.
Alex Davidson, 19, had consumed alcohol and cannabis along with friends Robert Bambridge, 24, and Dayne Thomas, 19, before the crash on the A4232 in Cardiff.
Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard Mr Davidson, of Cwmbran, only held a provisional driving licence and did not have insurance for his Ford Focus.
CCTV images showed the vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road before crashing into a 21-tonne lorry at about 4am on August 5. The crash was on Southern Way – 200 yards north of the Newport Road roundabout.
Graeme Hughes, assistant coroner for Rhondda Cynon Taf, concluded that the men had died in a road traffic collision contributed to by drugs and alcohol taken by Mr Davidson.
“How Alex Davidson came to be travelling northbound in the wrong lane in the early hours will never be fully known,” Mr Hughes said. “At that pivotal moment, he was driving at an excessive speed and directly into the path of a heavy goods vehicle.
“There was no option for either driver to avoid the catastrophic head-on collision at a combined impact speed of approximately 80mph.
“Alex was an inexperienced driver – he held only a provisional licence. Neither Dayne or Robert were authorised to supervise Alex’s driving.”
The coroner said Mr Davidson had consumed alcohol and cannabis before the crash.
“I find this would have affected his judgment and ability to drive safely,” he told the inquest.
Brandon Driscoll, a friend of the three men, said they had been drinking and smoking cannabis at his flat near Pontypool before leaving in Mr Davidson’s car.
The four friends consumed two crates of beer, one-and-three-quarter bottles of whisky, a bottle of vodka, and cans of cider from about 6pm.
At about 2am, Mr Davidson, Mr Bambridge and Mr Thomas left to go to a nightclub in Cardiff.
“I tried to persuade Alex that it was not a good idea and it was dangerous considering the alcohol he had consumed,” Mr Driscoll told the inquest. “He said he was going to be fine, that nothing would happen.”
Mr Driscoll said he had previously been in Mr Davidson’s car when he had consumed cannabis and this slowed his reaction time.
CCTV images captured the moment Mr Davidson’s vehicle collided with the lorry. The Ford Focus was travelling north but was positioned on the southbound side of the carriageway.
Pc Kyle Smith, of South Wales Police, said the vehicle reached speeds of more than 74mph before the crash. The speed limit on the road is 50mph.
“It was impossible to avoid the collision,” Feliksas Ilginis, the driver of the lorry, said.
Mr Thomas, of Cwmbran, was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff at 5.15am.
Mr Bambridge, of Pontypool, died at the scene at 5.19am. Mr Davidson was pronounced dead there at 4.49am.
Toxicology tests revealed alcohol and cannabis in his system.
All three men, who died from multiple blunt force injuries, had been wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision.
The families of the three men did not wish to comment after the inquest.