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An inquest has heard how a lorry driver who died in a crash on the M25 probably wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
The motorway was closed for six hours after the collision which killed 57-year-old Kevin Thompson.
The lorry he was driving smashed into the back of a Royal Mail lorry close to Junction 27, at Epping, on April 16, reports Essex Live .
A post-mortem carried out at Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, gave Mr Thompson’s cause of death as multiple injuries.
Essex Coroner’s Court heard yesterday (Wednesday, October 9) that it was suspected that Mr Thompson had not been wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
PC Alan Barlow, from Essex Police, told the court: “The seatbelt was trapped behind the seat which led us to deduce that Mr Thompson had not been wearing it at the time of the crash.”
The court heard how the traffic ahead of Mr Thompson’s lorry had slowed down due to an earlier incident on the road, and there had been signs warning of the queueing traffic for three quarters of a mile before it.
PC Barlow said: “Tyre scuffs show that Kevin had applied emergency breaks and left hand steering to try and avoid the collision.”
Mr Thompson’s lorry was traveling at 53mph when the brakes were pressed, while the truck he hit had been moving at around 10mph.
PC Barlow said: “I have considered what might have happened to cause Kevin to not be aware of the truck in front slowing.
“He could have been intoxicated, he could have suffered a medical incident, he could have been suffering fatigue or he could have been distracted.”
He went on to confirm that toxicology tests had revealed that there was no alcohol or drugs in Mr Thompson’s system.
Mr Thompson was also not known to have any illnesses that could have caused the crash.
Previous braking recorded on the same stretch of road also suggested that Mr Thompson was not suffering from fatigue.
PC Barlow said that it was possible that Mr Thompson had been distracted before the crash happened but admitted: “We will never truly know what caused the crash to happen.”
Following the crash, Mr Thompson’s family paid tribute to him.
They said: “Kevin was a kind, caring, fun-loving family man who will be missed greatly.
“He was a very experienced lorry driver and worked hard in all that he did.
“We would like to thank all those who stopped to help him at the scene of the accident, as well as the emergency services.”
A verdict was returned at the end of the inquest that his death was the result of an accident.
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