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Published:
December
22,
2009
Fatal
crash in Highbridge was 'accidental', rules coroner
A
coroner has recorded an accidental verdict after coming to the
conclusion that a slow puncture was partly to blame for a crash
that killed a young Burnham-On-Sea man earlier this year.
Jon
Puddy, 20, died in August after colliding with a taxi while driving
at around twice the 30mph speed limit on the A38 Huntspill Road
towards Highbridge.
An
inquest held in Taunton heard that Mr Puddy, who lived in Berrow
Road, was driving his brother Jacob from West Huntspill to Highbridge
when the accident occurred.
The
inquest was told Mr Puddy overtook his friend Liam Knight as they
drove along the road and narrowly avoided an oncoming police car
on its way to an incident.
Mr
Knight said at the inquest that Mr Puddy started to pull away
from him at speed before he heard a "massive crash".
The
taxi driver, Darren Haworth, told the inquest he saw Mr Puddy
come head-on towards him on his side of the road.
Mr
Haworth broke his knee in the collision and Mr Puddy died in hospital
two days later from his injuries.
The
inquest heard that an investigation found road markings at the
scene demonstrated that Mr Puddy would have been travelling at
between 50 and 67mph during the seconds leading up to the collision.
It
also stated that the pressure of Mr Puddy's rear offside tyre
was "significantly reduced" because of a slow puncture
which caused him to lose control.
Pictured
above are floral tributes for Jon Puddy at the scene of the accident
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