BMW and regulator’s failure to recall faulty cars led to death of Gurkha

Car firm and agency had foreseen circumstances of veteran’s death due to car that had electrical fault

BMW and the Government’s driving regulator have been condemned by a coroner after their failure to recall faulty cars was blamed for the death of a Gurkha veteran.

The German manufacturer and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) had foreseen the “exact circumstances” of Narayan Gurung’s death 10 months before it happened, but failed to warn customers or recall a single one of the 370,000 cars across the UK.

The 66-year-old died after driving his car into a tree on a dark road in Hampshire on Christmas Day to avoid a BMW that had cut out because of a total power outage caused by an electrical fault. Anna Loxton, assistant coroner for Surrey, said that BMW was “negligent” in its actions and the DVSA exhibited “indolence”, but she could not conclude the father-of-three was unlawfully killed because there was insufficient evidence of corporate manslaughter.

In February 2016 the car manufacturer, its UK importer and the agency discussed the risk of a power outage on an unlit road, with one engineer noting “we do not want a fatality”.

“Despite recognising this risk, the DVSA failed to call for, and BMW AG and BMW UK failed to initiate, a recall until after Mr Gurung’s death,” Mrs Loxton said in her narrative conclusion.

A prevention of further deaths notice will now be issued in writing to Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, and Gareth Llewellyn, the DVSA chief executive, over her “serious concerns” with the agency.

The DVSA had been aware of a fault since October 2014 when it started to receive an “unusually high” volume of complaints from drivers, around two a month. But Woking coroner’s court heard that the agency accepted BMW’S case that drivers would get a prior warning before a complete outage and the glitch was not “critical” because drivers were still able to steer and brake.

The DVSA even closed down investigations into the complaints before Mr Gurung, who served with “exemplary” conduct in the British Army regiment for nearly 20 years, was driving with his wife to the Royal Surrey County Hospital, where they worked as housekeepers. A colleague’s 2011 BMW 318i saloon had stalled on the Hogs Back road ahead after suffering a “total electrical failure”. The driver tried to put on his hazard lights but they failed.

Because it was before sunrise, Mr Gurung was unable to see it until the last moment. BMW said it would “reflect” on the coroner’s criticisms, adding: “Safety is of paramount importance to BMW – nothing comes before this.”

The agency previously claimed its response two years before the crash “might have been different” if the firm had passed on details of the flaw.