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Friday 23rd March 2012
Drivers speak of fatal crash horror Matthew James News Editor
matthew@the-resident.co.uk
A man who saw a fatal road crash carried on driving because he did not realise how serious it was. Toby Woolford, 19, of Andrews Road, Southwater, was killed when his Vauxhall Corsa was involved in a collision with a lorry on the A27 near Arundel station. Christopher Howard, of Potters Mead, Littlehampton, told the inquest yesterday (Thursday): “I saw this car coming westbound down the hill. He had lost control and was in a skid, basically coming towards me. “I still can’t remember if I took avoiding action, but he missed me. I looked in the mirror and saw the car go sideways into the lorry that was behind me. It did a little hop in the air and stopped. “The collision itself didn’t appear to be that great. I realised that I didn’t have a mobile phone. I saw a couple of people. I knew there were plenty of people behind the lorry so I carried on. “My initial thought was ‘Wow – he’s lucky’ because the passenger side hit the lorry. I didn’t perceive it was a life-threatening accident. “It’s a 40 mph limit there. He was certainly doing all of that. Whether he was exceeding it I wouldn’t like to say, but it was certainly too fast for the conditions. It wasn’t raining at the time, but there had been a downpour.” HGV driver Ben Nesbitt, of Middle Mead, Fareham, Hampshire, said he had been driving eastwards at about 30mph shortly after 7am on Thursday, August 25, last year. He told the inquest at Worthing Magistrates’ Court: “I headed up the hill and a car came round the corner. I applied the brakes and it hit straight after. “I saw there was just one person in the car, pulled the lorry back (reversed) and
tried to help. I phoned the police straight away. I had to give my phone to someone else because I couldn’t say where I was.” Angela Standing, of Norfolk Cottages, Warningcamp, Arundel, said: “I don’t know what made me look in my rear view mirror, but as I did a car behind me looked as though he clipped the kerb. “I could see he was struggling to rectify himself (wrestling with the steering wheel), but he didn’t. The lorry driver didn’t have anywhere to go. “I ran back up the hill because I was first-aid trained and I thought perhaps I could help. I went round to the driver’s side and the young gentleman. “I held his head up so he could breathe. I asked him ‘What’s your name?’, but there was no response. I called him ‘Sunshine’ because I wanted to call him something. “I gave him a running commentary and kept telling him the cavalry was coming, don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay.”
‘
I didn’t perceive it was a life-threatening accident
’
Firefighters, ambulancemen and police soon arrived, but Mr Woolford had sustained severe head injuries and he died at the scene. Tests for drugs and alcohol proved negative. Accident investigators found that the Corsa’s rear tyres had a 4mm tread, well above the legal limit but less than the 7mm tread in the front tyres, and the rear tyre pressure of 27 was below the recommended level of 32. PC Stuart Medlycott said aquaplaning “may well have occurred”. A lack of physical evidence meant it was impossible to say how fast Mr Woolford’s car had been travelling, but there were “no apparent
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Toby Woolford, 19, from Southwater
mechanical defects” in either vehicle. Also known as Woo, Mr Woolford attended Tanbridge House School and Central Sussex College, Crawley, had started as a trainee electrician with DW Electrical and was working part-time at Sainsbury’s, Horsham. His girlfriend of two years, Molly Keeling, attended Millais School and Collyer’s. He was the best friend and near neighbour of Horsham Football Club player Adam Hutchings, who he had known since childhood. Mr Woolford’s mother, Penny, said in a statement read to the inquest: “He was a very happy lad with lots of good friends and he was very happy in his relationship with his girlfriend. He was really happy to be working in a job he loved.” Mrs Woolford said her son had passed his driving test in May 2010, adding: “He would drive most days and appeared to be quite confident in using the road. “He had been a rear seat passenger in a friend’s car when it was involved in a collision (in 2009) and I think it had made him a more cautious driver.” Coroner Christopher Wilkinson recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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