An inquest has this week heard how a man suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a pick-up truck on the A38 in Brent Knoll.
Jeffrey Smith, 35, from Highbridge, had been drinking and was walking erratically along Bristol Road at around 4am on September 17th last year when the collision took place.
At Wednesday’s inquest in Taunton, it was stated that Mr Smith had sustained a fractured dislocation of his upper cervical spine and was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem exam found there were also traces of cocaine and diazepam in his system.
During the hearing, Somerset Senior coroner Tony Williams read a statement from Mr Smith’s fiancee, who said he had been suffering from a drinking problem leading up to his death and had sought medical advice after losing his job as a plumber.
On September 16th, he had a routine sinus operation at Weston General Hospital and then discharged himself later that day even though his fiancee says she’d hoped he would stay for mental health support while at the hospital.
At 2am the following morning, Mr Smith told her he was leaving the house to walk the 10 miles to Weston Hospital despite her asking him to wait until the morning.
At around 4am, a motorist on the A38 at Brent Knoll in a Mitsubishi pick-up truck said he could not avoid hitting Mr Smith, who had been wearing dark clothing and was difficult to be seen on the darkness. A Police officer who attended the scene said he felt the collision had been unavoidable.
Mr Williams recorded a conclusion of accidental death and listed the cause of death as a fractured dislocation of his upper cervical spine.
