'Small error' led to death smash near Oswestry, court told
A motorist was killed when his car struck a signpost and flipped onto its roof following a collision with a van near Oswestry, a court heard.
Andrew Watkins died instantly in the accident just a short distance from his home at Llansantffraid, near Oswestry, as he was taking his car for an MoT test.
A jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday that Mr Watkins' Peugeot was hit by a Volkswagen Caddy van driven by 26-year-old Robert Jones in April last year.
It is alleged the van crossed the double white lines on a bend near a railway bridge on the A495 at Llanyblodwel.
Jones, of Nant-y-Glyn, Llansantffraid, denies causing the death of 59-year-old Mr Watkins by careless driving.
At court yesterday, Mr Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, said the error made by the defendant was relatively small, but one which had terrible consequences.
He said that about 8.30am Mr Watkins was driving his Peugeot to a garage at Porth-y-Waen for an MoT test and his wife was following in a Nissan to drive her husband back home.
Mr Tatlow said Mrs Watkins did not witness the collision, but saw the van coming towards her round a bend before it passed and stopped in a nearby lay-by. She found her husband upside down in his car being held in by his seat belt.
Other drivers tried to help but Mr Watkins' neck had been broken when the roof was crushed by the impact.
Mr Tatlow said the accident was on a section of a series of bends and the brow of a bridge over a disused railway.
He said the precise cause of the crash was the issue in the case and the jury would hear from expert witnesses.
The jury was told there was no evidence of excessive speed by Jones, no question of drugs or alcohol and he had not been distracted by use of a mobile phone.
"His inattention was short-lived and his vehicle drifted over to the wrong side of the road on the bend," claimed Mr Tatlow.
The trial continues.
