Mum and son died in head-on collision with lorry - inquest
ASON and mother were killed in a head-on collision with a lorry as he texted a woman he had dated the night before.
Mark Golubovic, 32, and his mother, Irene Martin, 63, died in the collision on May 6 in Llanharry Road, in Pontyclun, after the red Ford Ka driven by Mr Golubovic swerved into the opposite carriageway.
Mr Golubovic was pronounced dead at the scene and Ms Martin died at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, on May 9 after remaining in a critical condition since the accident.
An inquest held at Aberdare Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Golubovic was texting a woman he had met the night before at around the time the accident occurred.
A statement from David Loveys, the driver of the HGV, was read out as he was not present at the hearing.
He said he had owned a haulier business since 1985 and was driving a lorry containing 190 tonnes of animal feed from a farm near Stroud to Llanharry on the day of the accident.
He said: “It was about 8.30am and I was driving at 30mph, traffic at the time was light and there was only a couple of cars in front of me. There were good driving conditions.
“My attention came to a red car about 300-400 yards ahead of me, it had come around the bend and along the straight section.
“The red car then veered over to the right side in what I would describe as a deliberate manner or an act to avoid something in the road.
“The vehicle was now driving towards me at least 30-40mph. I had little time to react and I thought it would move to the correct side of the road.
“The red car kept coming towards me and I had no time to react and before I knew it the car hit me.”
The Ka was left destroyed after becoming lodged under the lorry. It was described by Senior Coroner Andrew Barkley as a “horrific image”.
A statement from a number of witnesses described the car driven by Mr Golubovic as swerving into the path of the HGV, and one witness said there was nothing Mr Loveys could do to prevent the collision.
A post-mortem examination found that Mr Golubovic died as a result of multiple injuries, while Ms Martin died as a result of polytrauma.
A toxicology report found that alcohol was present in Mr Golubovic’s blood and urine but this was below the legal drink-driving limit.
A statement from Fern Robbins was read out to the court describing her relationship with Golubovic.
She said she had met him for the first time in person the night before his death after they had been chatting on a dating site.
She said: “I received a text from Mark at 8.10am thanking me for an enjoyable night. Mark text me at 8.29am saying, ‘thank you, laters.’
“I worried about the last message sent at 8.29am as the collision was around or near that time.”
Forensic collision investigator Lisa Morgan said Mr Golubovic’s phone was examined and it established that a number of text messages were sent or received at around 8.29am, just before the collision.
In his conclusion, Mr Barkley said the most “attractive option” open to him was that the texts played a significant part in the collision.
Mr Barkley concluded that Mr Golubovic and Ms Martin died due to a road traffic collision.