MUM SAW DAUGHTER DIE IN CRASH
ATRAINEE teacher who was “happy and loving life” died in a catastrophic crash which was witnessed by her own mother.
Rhiannon Smith, 21, from Llandevaud, near Newport, was fatally injured in an accident on the A48 between Newport and Chepstow at around 7.30am on March 16.
Despite paramedics fighting to save her life, she died at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, on March 22 after suffering a severe traumatic brain injury.
At the time of her death Ms Smith had a teaching placement at a school in Tonypandy and was studying for a PGCE at Gloucester University.
An inquest into Ms Smith’s death at Newport Coroner’s Court was attended by her parents, Julian and Gill Smith, who moved to Wales in 2007 from Staffordshire.
A statement was read out from Rhiannon’s mother, who saw the crash which took her daughter’s life as she waited for her younger daughter’s school bus.
She said: “At 7.15am, me and Sophie (Ms Smith’s sister) got into my Volkswagen Beetle and as we left our drive I noticed Rhiannon’s, a Toyota Yaris, was outside the door. I drove a small distance to the junction of Chepstow Road. We are all aware of the dangers going out onto the main road. We’ve all had close calls with various pulling-outs of this lane.
“I later stopped to wait for the bus. Sophie was looking at her mobile phone or a book and a short time later I saw Rhiannon’s car pull out of the junction.
“There was a steady flow of traffic from Chepstow to Newport and the next thing I can remember was the crash. Rhiannon had been hit by a Range Rover coming from the right side behind me.
“I jumped out of the car and could see she was injured so I ran back to Sophie and asked her to call an ambulance.”
The driver of the Range Rover, Neil Fowler, 58, was travelling from his home in Risca to his workplace in Caldicot on the morning of the collision.
In a written statement, he said: “A car just appeared from the left side straight in front of me. I tried to brake but I knew I had hit the car.
“All the airbags deployed and I can remember veering off to the side of the road. It was quite disorientating because the impact was quite high.”
He added: “I can remember seeing the other driver’s face when she turned and looked at me. The horror on her face, I couldn’t describe it. She was so scared and I knew I had hit her on the door.”
Mr Fowler was taken to hospital, where he received treatment for bruising and whiplash, and was discharged the following day.
Speaking about the crash, he said: “I kept getting flashbacks and when I heard the girl was ill I was greatly distressed and then a week later someone told me she had died, which was upsetting. I have tried to find an explanation and the only thing I can think of is she didn’t see me.”
Pc Anthony Parker, of the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit, gave evidence at the inquest, having attended the scene of the accident. He confirmed that Ms Smith’s Yaris had suffered “catastrophic damage” as a result of the collision.
The officer confirmed that Mr Fowler had been driving at 52mph on a stretch of the A48 with a 50mph speed limit, but the extra 2mph did not have a significant impact.
He said that the Yaris was only at the junction for five seconds and had only stopped for a fraction of a second.
However, PC Parker said, the biggest factor in the collision was a car parked legally on the A48 which had blocked the view of the Yaris and the Range Rover from each other.
He said: “The vehicle would have been behind the blind spot for three and a half seconds, which is the time Ms Smith took to decide she was away from the collision.
“The parked vehicle has created a major incident and I would think it was the biggest factor in this collision.”
Senior coroner for Gwent David Bowen described Ms Smith as a “young and obviously talented trainee teacher” and recorded a conclusion of an accidental death in a road traffic incident.
The coroner praised Ms Smith and her parents’ decision to allow her organs to be re-used by others in need.
Speaking after the inquest, Mr and Mrs Smith said the death of their daughter, who Mr Smith described as “happy and loving life” in his statement, might have been prevented with a lower speed limit.
Mr Smith said: “We’re still keen that something can be done with the road and the parked-car situation. I hope to talk to the council about the junction. The A48 is a dangerous road.”
Mrs Smith added: “The police and the coroner took on board the issue of the parking space, which needs blocking off, and if the speed can be reduced that would be ideal.”