Investigation and inquest
On 16 December 2019 I commenced an investigation into the death of Jamie Finlay.
The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 16 December 2019. The conclusion of the inquest was that Jamie Finlay died whilst a passenger of a car which had been driven at speed without braking to avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle which was turning right before a filter lane bollard on the A1088 junction with Thetford Road, Ixworth.
The medical cause of death was:
1a. Raised intracranial hypertension
1b. Traumatic Brain Injury
1c. Road Traffic Collision
Circumstances of the death
On 8 May 2017 Jamie Finlay had been collected from home in Woolpit at around 6.16am by his work colleague to drive to Thetford to meet the works vehicle. They journeyed through Norton Village to the A1088 where the colleague drove at the speed limit of 60mph. Jamie’s colleague did not brake as he approached a sweeping bend at the junction with Thetford Road and was perhaps going too fast to avoid a collision with another oncoming vehicle negotiating a right turn from the filter lane. Both drivers swerved to avoid the other. The colleague swerved to the wrong side of the road colliding with the other drivers’ passenger front and side, whilst the other driver swerved to his left into the collision and suffered similar damage to the front left.
The other driver had attempted to take the right turn into Thetford Road on the wrong side of the bollard, where there was a clear view into Thetford Road from the A1088 and a wide radius for undertaking such a manoeuvre. He swerved back into the A1088 when he saw the car, in which Jamie Finlay was a passenger, appear around the bend prior to the junction.
Jamie Finlay was transported from the scene to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where his life support was switched off on 11 May 2017 at 15:59 hours.
Coroner’s concerns
The design of the filter lane and junction from the A1088 to Thetford Road does not prevent drivers turning right ahead of the bollards, and onto the wrong side of those bollards into Thetford Road.