Shrewsbury road death is put down to an accident
A driver died after accidentally crashing into stationary traffic, an inquest heard.
David Murdoch, 28, of Shrewsbury, died at the Royal Stoke University Hospital on December 20, five days after he was involved a collision on the A49 between the Battlefield and Sundorne roundabouts in Shrewsbury.
Mr Murdoch was the driver of a silver Kia which crashed with a silver Vauxhall Vectra, a silver Toyota Auris and a Blue Mercedes C220 on the busy stretch of road at approximately 5.35pm on December 15.
Mr John Ellery, coroner for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, said the cause of death was brain damage and concluded Mr Murdoch died as the result of a road traffic collision.
The inquest, held at Shirehall in Shrewsbury yesterday, heard that a woman suffered a fractured wrist and a man had back pain after the crash.
Sergeant Greville Wealthall, West Mercia Police senior investigating officer, said the collision occurred about half a mile from the Sundorne roundabout and the weather conditions were "fine". He added: "Mr Murdoch's vehicle had a dashboard camera which shows cars driving along the road in front of him and traffic starting to build up before the impact.
"The footage shows brake lights coming on the vehicle in front but Mr Murdoch does not react. He was doing about 40 to 45mph. He keeps approaching the traffic and not slowing down.
"He steers to avoid the stationary cars and the camera cuts out.
"There is a possibility he could have been using his phone at the time. The dash cam footage concludes at 5.36pm and the last message sent from his phone was sent at 5.33pm. The clocks on both devices were not synched together but if they were there would be about three minutes between the last message being sent and the collision."
Mr Ellery replied: "This is intriguing but it does not explain the distraction. There is evidence Mr Murdoch was using his phone before the collision but no evidence to say he was using it at the time.
"We do not know the reasons why he did not appreciate the stationary traffic.
"The hospital did what they could to save him but he died five days after the accident due to serious injuries.
"It is clear it was an accident."
