A 20-year-old man killed in a 't-bone' crash may have survived had the other driver not been speeding, an inquest has heard.

Daniel Leathers died in hospital on December 3 last year, after being involved in the accident on the A47.

An inquest into his death heard the apprentice engineer was turning across the A47 onto Yarmouth Road at Blofield when a Range Rover driven by Xueqin Xue crashed into the side of his Vauxhall Corsa.

Both vehicles left the carriageway but Mr Leathers, of Lingwood, died of his injuries two days later in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Eastern Daily Press:

A forensic crash investigation concluded that Mr Leathers may have survived had Ms Xue been driving to the speed limit.

Data collected from her car's computing system found that she had been driving between 59 and 63mph at the time of the crash, which occurred on a stretch of road with a 50mph speed limit.

Daniel Smith, crash scene investigator for Norfolk Constabulary, said: "Had the Range Rover been travelling at 50mph this would've allowed the Vauxhall to travel another 0.8m across the road."

Mr Smith said that while the crash would likely still have occurred, that it would have changed the point of impact.

He added: "This would have changed the mechanics of the crash and may have caused the injuries to be less severe."

The incident happened at around 4.40pm on December 1 when Mr Leathers was travelling home from work.

He was pulling across the A47 onto the Yarmouth Road - a manoeuvre requiring him to cross two lanes of the road. Ms Xue was driving in the right-hand lane of the road, heading towards Norwich.

Ms Xue initially told police she believed she was travelling at around 50mph at the time of the crash, but following the investigation said she accepted its findings.

She said: "I thought I was going at 50mph but I do not disagree with the police findings."

The crash has resulted in no criminal proceedings.

Mr Leathers' father Jeremy Leathers told the court: "We wish everyone on our roads took their driving more seriously so tragedies like this would not happen.

"We miss Dan every day and wish he was still here."

Jacqueline Lake concluded Mr Leathers' death was as a result of a road traffic collision.

 

LIFE AND SOUL OF THE PARTY

During the inquest, Jeremy Leathers described his son as "the life and soul of the party" in a touching tribute.

He described how the pair had worked together and that his son had taken great pride in sharing a workplace with his father.

He said: "Dan was a beloved son and was always full of laughter, humour and loved life.

"He adored his sister and although he teased her, he was so proud of her and very protective too.

"He loved his work - I worked with him and he was so proud to work with his dad."

Mr Leathers said that such was his son's popularity that when he was in hospital at Addenbrooke's, 20 of his friends all travelled from Norfolk at different points to visit him and say their goodbyes.

He added: "He was the life and soul of the party and just wanted to make people smile. He would do anything to try and cheer people up.

"We took comfort in the fact we were able to have him with us for a few days after the crash and to say our goodbyes."

Mr Leathers added that his son was an organ donor.

"It was a great comfort that the hospital was able to give several of his organs to people in need.

"If there was any good that came from this awful situation it is that."