THE FINAL episode of BBC series The Crash Detectives follows Gwent Police as they investigate two crashes in Newport.
In the first crash, PC Richie Wyatt investigates a fatal collision on Usk Way in Newport city centre where an 82-year-old woman was hit by a lorry while crossing the road.
PC Wyatt said: “There’s so many factors in collisions with pedestrians, the visibility of the pedestrian, the colour of clothing.
“If the person is wearing a pink jacket at 10 in the morning, then the person should be visible. So then if she is walking in front of him [the driver] why hasn’t he seen her?”
An individual who witnessed the crash was following behind the lorry and said that the woman was hit and then dragged under the lorry. Investigators then look at the lorry to find out more about the collision.
Fibres from the victim’s jacket leads to confusion as to where the collision happened so the investigators turn to CCTV and dash cam footage from the lorry – which leads to a journey to Oxford to view the footage.
“We could see her walking across immediately in front of the truck, but could the driver see it?”
The driver said he wished he knew what had happened. He said as he prepared to pull away, he carried out a series of checks in his mirrors and only realised something was happening when the driver behind was sounding the horn and flashing the lights.
They then recreated the collision with volunteers who matched the height of the victim and driver to try and see what the driver saw. They then compared the dash cam footage from both the crash itself and the reconstruction.
“There is a very limited view of where the pedestrian would have been at that time,” said PC Wyatt. No charges were brought against the driver.
MORE NEWS:
- CONFIRMED: County pick another hometown boss - Newport's Rowberry lands job
- First day of Stagecoach strikes - what the drivers had to say
In the second crash in Llanwern, a cyclist is critically injured when his bike collided with a lorry. PC Rhys Dickinson says the man in his 50s cycles to and from work and wasn’t wearing a helmet. The man was cycling in the gap between the edge of the road and the carriageway and is hit from behind.
PC Dickinson examines the damage to the lorry and the bike and the marks on the road, which indicated that the lorry driver has braked and taken evasive action, but whether it was in time or not.
After the lorry is moved, PC Dickinson finds that the marks expected are there. The lorry driver said that he could see the cyclist clearly and then the cyclist came across in front of him. To find out exactly what happened, the investigators turn to the lorry’s dash cam.
“To see the cyclist pull out like that was shocking,” said PC Dickinson. The dashcam footage shows the cyclist coming across the road and the lorry driver reacting in less than a second. “The lorry driver did everything he could. You couldn’t expect anyone to do any more,” said PC Dickinson.
The cyclist recovered from his injuries and no action was taken against the lorry driver.
All episodes of The Crash Detectives season three are available to view on demand on BBC iPlayer.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here