Mum died as car ‘swerved on M4’
Inquest into road collision tragedy
A MOTHER died on the M4 when a car driven by her daughter swerved and crashed into the central reservation.
Sarah Evans, who had a medical exemption due to a hernia which meant she didn’t have to wear a seat belt, died at the scene.
A LLANELLI mother died on the M4 when a car driven by her daughter swerved and crashed into the central reservation.
Daughter Rachel Evans was heard to scream hysterically, “I’ve killed my mother”, moments after the Ford Ka she was driving hit the barrier of the M4.
Her mother, Sarah Evans, who had a medical exemption due to a hernia which meant she didn’t have to wear a seat belt, was partly flung out of the front passenger window and died at the scene.
Witnesses to the crash described the car veering left and right at around 7.20pm on January 25, 2018, but it is not known whether the car rolled or spun before hitting the barrier.
Phone records from the time record that Rachel, aged 26, had just received an iMessage from a friend on her mobile phone, but it is not clear whether or not she had read it.
She had told investigators her phone was in her pocket, but she couldn’t remember the moments leading up to the fatal crash.
An inquest in Swansea heard the pair were in the car travelling between junction 46 Llangyfelach and junction 45 Ynysforgan.
The motorway was damp, and it had been raining earlier in the day, but other drivers described reasonable conditions at the time.
Caron and Huw Jones were near the crash scene when they witnessed the Ka hitting the crash barrier “for no apparent reason”.
Mr Jones, in a statement to the hearing, described how he saw the vehicle swerve “violently to the right and swerved into the crash barrier”.
He believed it rolled several times before the impact.
David Coates was in a car with Sioned BoothCoates, when he saw the Ka swerve from side to side for no apparent reason.
It turned “violently” right and crashed straight into the barrier. He was not sure if the car rolled or was flung violently as a result of hitting the central reservation.
Ms Booth-Coates was looking down at her phone when she heard David Coates say “that’s not right”.
She heard Mr Coates say: “Oh my God, was that a body?”
The inquest was told records from Rachel Evans’s phone showed she had sent a message to a friend shortly before starting the journey to visit her grandmother.
It was delayed due to poor reception, and her friend responded at 7.10pm. It’s not known if Rachel Evans heard or saw the message before the crash.
Following the collision, Ms Evans was very cooperative at the police station, but couldn’t remember the moments before the accident.
There was no recording of drink or drugs in her system following tests and she was said to be driving in line with the speed limit.
Evidence was sent by police to the Crown Prosecution Service, but investigators decided to take no further action.
PC Chris Street, who is a temporary police sergeant, said he visited the scene, and concluded the crash was caused by a sudden offside steering from the driver.
The impact with the crash barrier was so great the engine was thrown from the car.
No other vehicle was involved.
Acting senior coroner Colin Phillips said the post mortem revealed Mrs Evans, from Llanelli, had died as a result of catastrophic blunt force head injury. He recorded a conclusion that she died as a result of a road traffic collision.
At the time of the crash Mrs Evans’s family described the 58-year-old as a mother who “lived and loved life to the full.”