Man hit by car near Ironbridge ‘was not trying to get killed’
A vulnerable man who was hit by a car near Ironbridge did not intend to kill himself, a coroner has ruled.
Andrew Davies died on December 22 after exiting a moving vehicle which was travelling along the A4169 between Much Wenlock and Buildwas.
The 30-year-old from Much Wenlock, who had Asperger’s and suffered with depression, had been arguing with his mother and grandmother in the car before the incident, shortly before 6.30pm.
Senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, John Ellery, recorded a conclusion of misadventure at an inquest at Shirehall on Tuesday.
A report by Pc Neil Taylor, a forensic collision investigator for West Mercia Police, said Mr Davies had been a passenger in the rear of the vehicle before exiting the car into the path of an oncoming Ford.
According to Mr Taylor, the car his mother was driving, a grey Peugeot, was travelling between 35 and 45mph.
He said the driver of the Ford would not have had enough time to take evasive action and that an accident was inevitable.
Toxicology
“It appears Mr Davies had chosen to exit the vehicle into the direct path of the oncoming car,” he said. “The driver was left with no time to react in order to avoid a collision.”
A toxicology report showed that Mr Davies had drugs in his system at the time of the incident.
Mr Ellery said: “The pathology report said Mr Davies suffers with Asperger’s, depression and psychotic episodes of drug use. It said there was therapeutic and recreational drugs in his body before his death which may have had some effect on his mental state and wellbeing.”
The medical cause of death was given as a head injury.
Mr Ellery accepted the cause of death and said there was no evidence that Mr Davies wanted to take his own life on that day, despite the fact that he was known to have mental health problems.
“There is no doubt that Andy intended to exit the car,” he added. “But we do not know if he knew the consequences so I record a conclusion of misadventure.”
