A WOMAN jumped a red light in her car before being involved in a collision which killed a man who had just left a pub in Bridgwater, an inquest heard.

Evidence was heard during the inquest into the death of Kenneth Chapman, 66, of Lakeside Park, Taunton Road, who died in an incident on Broadway, at the junction with Albert Street, on November 19 last year.

Three witnesses testified to seeing the driver of a Blue Vauxhall Vectra jump a red light near Morrisons, travelling towards Wembdon, moments before the incident.

Police collision investigator PC Andrew Grigg said it had not been possible to estimate the speed of the car when it collided with Mr Chapman, and because the distance between the red light and where he was found was 260 metres away, it constituted two separate pieces of driving which must be considered separately.

The coroner accepted the two pieces of driving should be considered separately.

PC Grigg and his team had reconstructed the reported incident at the scene at the same time of day a month later and found that, due to the lighting and Mr Chapman wearing dark clothes, Sian Williams, the driver of the car, may not have seen him until a collision was unavoidable.

Mrs Hodley, Mr Chapman’s sister, said her brother, a former carpenter and highway maintenance worker, was a kind man who was unmarried but cared greatly for her and his niece and nephew.

The court heard Mr Chapman had been out drinking at the Green Dragon pub, in Friarn Street, as he did most Saturdays and had consumed about eight or nine pints and a couple of shots of whisky by the time he left, shortly after 5pm.

Three witnesses, who were driving back from a hockey match, say they all saw Miss Williams drive through a red light outside Morrisons, although their recollections slightly varied as to how far from the traffic lights she was when the light turned to red.

Witness Joss Roberts said: “We were driving alongside the car heading towards the Morrisons traffic lights. It was obvious that the light would be red by the time we reached the junction. I slowed down but the Blue Vectra continued to accelerate to get through the red light.
“When got around the corner the Vectra was in the middle of the road with hazard lights on. Initially I thought it had broken down but when we were closer we saw a body on the floor and it was clear something was wrong.”

Miss Williams said in her statement she was travelling at 30mph and was already committed to passing the lights when they turned to amber. She said she did not see Mr Chapman and the first she knew of a collision was when she heard a sudden loud bang.

She got out of the car in shock and after seeing Mr Chapman on the floor she shouted for help. “I cannot think of anything I could have done differently,” she said.

The forensic pathologist found Mr Chapman died of a significant head injury and fractured an ankle and elbow.

While the coroner was concluding the inquest, Mrs Hodley said: “I will never believe that you would (Miss Williams) speed up through a red light just to slow down the other side. I blame her 100 per cent.”

Coroner Tony Williams told Mrs Hodley said: “Unfortunately there are no other witnesses to the collision itself, and we are left with gaps and we cannot fill them in a way that would satisfy you.”

Mr Williams concluded that Mr Chapman died in a road traffic collision at 5.39pm on Saturday, November 19 2016. He will write to Somerset County Council to ask for a review of the road lighting.

A clarification:

IN last week’s Bridgwater Mercury we ran a story with the headline ‘Red light death crash’.

We would like to clarify that the headline was in no way intended to suggest the driver concerned had run a red light before the accident.

We would like to apologise for any distress caused by the story and in no way intended to insinuate that any crime had been committed.

We would also like to point out that the driver, Miss Williams, after an extensive police investigation, faces no charges in relation to the accident.

The Mercury is happy to clarify these points.