Kenneth Gerald Aldridge · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 24th December 2012 I commenced an investigation into the death of Kenneth Gerald Aldridge aged sixty eight years. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 29th January 2014. The conclusion of the inquest was road traffic collision, the medical cause of death being blunt head injury.

Mr Aldridge was the driver of a motor car involved in a collision with a second vehicle on the A4 near Woolhampton in West Berkshire.

The A4 at the scene is a dual carriageway and the vehicles appeared to have come together side by side and, despite a relatively slight impact, Mr Aldridge’s vehicle left the road and crashed into a tree.

At the time of the contact between the two vehicles, the other vehicle was preparing to turn into a service road separated from the A4 by a paved area and wooden fencing. There are gaps in this divide to allow vehicular access and egress to and from the service road.

(1) For a vehicle to turn in to the service road running parallel to the A4 it would be necessary to slow considerably and then effect the manoeuvre. It is not possible to make a complete manoeuvre round to the left without then forming a u-turn which is not possible without either reversing and going forward again or encroaching onto the outside lane of the A4 to make a sweeping manoeuvre into the access.

(2) In the course of the evidence, the Collision Investigator who investigated the crash on behalf of Thames Valley Police suggested that the ability to make such a manoeuvre on a fast dual carriageway is potentially dangerous. While the Officer expressed concerns about turning in, he was also concerned about vehicles pulling out of the service road on to the dual carriageway.

(3) The evidence therefore gave rise to concern at the appropriateness of having an access to the service road at such a location, particularly given a speed limit of 70 miles per hour at that point.