Photo: honey.nine.com.au
A mother driving her two children to school lost control of the car when a spider landed on her hand, crashing into an oncoming truck towing a trailer with livestock.
Her 11-year-old son died in the crash. He suffered serious head injuries in the accident, even though he was in the backseat and was wearing a seatbelt, an inquest into his death has heard, as reported by the BBC.
The crash occurred in Ceredigion, Wales, with Cloud Younger at the wheel of a Subaru. Her 8-year-old daughter Branwen was sitting in the passenger seat, while Tristan Silver was sitting in the back. It was Branwen who noticed the spider on her mother’s hand, the inquest into the boy’s death has revealed.
The girl immediately started screaming and panicking, so Younger turned her attention to her. In doing so, she lost sight of the road for several seconds, during which time the car veered on the wrong side of the road. It crashed into a Mitsubishi truck driven by farmer David Glyndwr Jones, who told the court that, at the moment of impact, he was almost stationary.
The inquest could not establish at what speed Younger was driving, as she would not bear witness to the proceedings. Her attorney read a pre-written statement, in which she said she would have revealed more if she could remember.
According to the farmer, he noticed the Subaru coming in his lane seconds before the impact, and the only thing he could do, given that he was also hauling a trailer with sheep, was to brake until a near full-stop.
“At first it was straddling the white line, about a quarter of the vehicle on the wrong side. Then it came all the way over to my side and I could see it wasn't going to stop,” Jones told the court.
“All this happened in about six seconds - I just had enough time to warn my wife and brace myself. I feel devastated by what happened. I don't understand why she didn't see us and drive back to her side,” he added.
During earlier investigation, when asked why she didn’t pull over to remove the spider and try and calm her daughter down, Younger responded with “No comment.”
The crash occurred in Ceredigion, Wales, with Cloud Younger at the wheel of a Subaru. Her 8-year-old daughter Branwen was sitting in the passenger seat, while Tristan Silver was sitting in the back. It was Branwen who noticed the spider on her mother’s hand, the inquest into the boy’s death has revealed.
The girl immediately started screaming and panicking, so Younger turned her attention to her. In doing so, she lost sight of the road for several seconds, during which time the car veered on the wrong side of the road. It crashed into a Mitsubishi truck driven by farmer David Glyndwr Jones, who told the court that, at the moment of impact, he was almost stationary.
The inquest could not establish at what speed Younger was driving, as she would not bear witness to the proceedings. Her attorney read a pre-written statement, in which she said she would have revealed more if she could remember.
According to the farmer, he noticed the Subaru coming in his lane seconds before the impact, and the only thing he could do, given that he was also hauling a trailer with sheep, was to brake until a near full-stop.
“At first it was straddling the white line, about a quarter of the vehicle on the wrong side. Then it came all the way over to my side and I could see it wasn't going to stop,” Jones told the court.
“All this happened in about six seconds - I just had enough time to warn my wife and brace myself. I feel devastated by what happened. I don't understand why she didn't see us and drive back to her side,” he added.
During earlier investigation, when asked why she didn’t pull over to remove the spider and try and calm her daughter down, Younger responded with “No comment.”
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