Man died after car collided with tree and telegraph pole near Osgodby, inquest is told

The inquest, held in Spilsby last week, found that Derek Mudd, 56, of Cleethorpes, died from multiple injuries as a result of the single vehicle 
collision earlier this year.

Marianne Johnson, assistant coroner for Central Lincolnshire, was told that the victim’s sister, Sandra, was in the front passenger seat of Mr Mudd’s Suzuki Swift when he lost control of the vehicle late on the 
evening of April 18.

The car slid across the road and collided with a tree, before hitting a telegraph pole and rolling over.

In Sandra Mudd’s witness statement, the inquest heard how she and Derek set off to visit their sister in Boston on the day of the fatal collision.

Derek and Sandra left Boston at around 6.15pm and, after visiting a shop in Sutton on Trent, set off back towards North East Lincolnshire at 8.10pm.

Sandra’s statement said that Derek was a skilled driver with a good knowledge of local roads. He also knew a lot about cars as he was a mechanic for many years before he retired.

She said that there was nothing wrong with the car on the day of the collision that she could see.

Ms Mudd added that they were driving along the A46 when the car’s front wheels went off at a left hand bend, heading towards a grass verge.

It was heard that Sandra can’t recall anything else because she blacked out. She sustained a facial injury, two black eyes and bruised ribs.

She was taken to hospital for treatment.

PC Mark Brown, forensic collision investigator for Lincolnshire Police, read out his report at the inquest.

“Derek Mudd was heading north on the A46 and the car went off the road towards a side verge on the left hand side and he put on too much steering trying to correct it,” he said.

“This resulted in the car pulling across to the other side of the road.

“As the car went across to the right side, it hit a tree and rolled over after hitting a utility pole.”

He added that he wasn’t sure why the nearside wheels went off the road, and found that the car was in a satisfactory condition to drive.

PC Brown added that a collision on the same road had happened the day before and another one happened a few days later - which he found strange, as no other crashes had happened on that part since 2007.

“Following this collision, we have checked the grit of the surface and done some testing of the road with our own vehicles and found no issues with it,” PC Brown said.

He added that Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways Department have tested the road and found no issues with it either - but will be monitoring it in future.

Meanwhile, a toxicology report showed nothing of note that would have contributed towards his death.

The Assistant Coroner’s verdict concluded that Derek Mudd died as a result of the road traffic collision.