Death-crash teacher hit barrier on M4
A GRANDMOTHER and teacher was killed after colliding with a crash barrier before being hit by another car on the M4, an inquest has heard.
Carole Patricia Fowler, of Dynevor Road, in Garnant, Ammanford, died on Wednesday, January 13, after the collision near junction 48 of the motorway at Hendy, in Carmarthenshire, at around 9.18pm.
An inquest into her death, held at Llanelli Town Hall, heard the 61-year-old had momentarily left the motorway but returned back onto the carriageway before her purple Citroen DS3 began to rotate in a clockwise direction. Miss Fowler crashed into a barrier before being “rebounded” back into the first lane of the motorway where a Ford Focus crashed into her.
Dyfed-powys Police collision investigator PC David Stacey told the inquest Miss Fowler’s car had been “badly damaged” during the incident and that the impact on the crash barrier had been “catastrophic”.
He said: “From evidence at the scene it is unknown as to why the vehicle went onto the offset and then returned to get back onto the M4. Evidence at the scene shows that the vehicle returned back to the motorway and started to rotate clockwise.
“There was a massive impact involving a crash barrier. The Citroen has rebounded back into lane one, facing oncoming traffic, and the oncoming Ford Focus had impacted quite heavily on the offside of the Citroen.
“There was no evidence of any loss of control or emergency braking. There were no pre-existing issues with either vehicle. There was no evidence of a medical emergency and no evidence of alcohol or drugs. There was no evidence that either driver was using a mobile phone.”
The inquest heard that Miss Fowler suffered a fractured skull and cervical vertebrae fractures as a result of the crash. Miss Fowler, who was brought up in the Manselton area of Swansea, had been a teacher at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Llanelli for 30 years before retiring in 2017. She had been due to get married to her partner of 14 years in July 2020 but it had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Her family previously paid tribute to her saying that “she loved children and they loved her” and explained that she was “very popular with staff and well-respected and loved by parents”.
Recording a road traffic collision conclusion, acting senior coroner for Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire Paul Bennett said: “This is one of those tragic set of circumstances where, for reasons unknown, Carole was driving along the M4 in an eastwards direction and appeared to have executed a manoeuvre when leaving the motorway but in the process then turned the vehicle back onto the motorway, colliding with a crash barrier at the point where the motorway meets the slip road.
“There’s no evidence to suggest there was any mechanical fault or any other influence that occurred. There’s no evidence of an emergency medical episode or any evidence of there being any drugs or alcohol in her system.
“It’s unfortunate where we will never know why Carole undertook the manoeuvre she did, resulting in such tragic consequences.”