Tragedy drivers had defective tyres

A teenager and a father who were killed in separate crashes on a notorious Wolverhampton road were both driving cars with defective tyres, an inquest has heard.

Luke Woodstock, aged 19, and 51-year-old Jagjit Singh died within weeks of each other on same stretch of the A449 near Wombourne as they headed towards Wolverhampton.

South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh is now to write to the county council amid concerns about the surface of the 70mph road, where there has been a string of tragedies in recent years.

Luke Woodstock, aged 19, of Smallshire Way, Wordsley, suffered fatal injuries when he lost control of his BMW Mini Cooper on May 17 at Lady Hill near Withymere Lane, opposite the Miller and Carter pub restaurant.

Yesterday's inquest in Cannock heard evidence from Pc Carl Kelsall, from Staffordshire Police, who said the teenager was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car as it rolled.

Police found the rear offside tyre was so worn the cords were visible and a screw stuck in the tyre had its head worn off. Investigators estimated the tyre had been run deflated for a considerable amount of time.

On June 21 Mr Singh, from Pinfold Lane, Penn, suffered fatal head injuries after crashing his Peugeot 406 into two walls and a telegraph pole.

Both his front and rear offside tyres were found to be below the legal limit of 1.6mm which, combined with excessive speed and damp conditions, caused him to lose control, the inquest heard.

Pc Kelsall told how earlier that day Mr Singh had taken his car to a mechanic who had warned him about the tyres but Mr Singh told him they were too expensive and he wanted to get a second-hand set. David Wilson, from Staffordshire County Council, told the inquest the road surface had been identified as needing work but he said: "It was not considered a dangerous road. The accident records showed five accidents a year on a road used by 10 million vehicles a year. A majority were due to excessive speed."

A new anti-skid surface has since been laid on the bend where the accidents happened. The authority is also looking at reducing the speed limit to 50mph. Recording verdicts of accidental death in both cases, Mr Haigh told both families the tyres combined with a poor road surface and damp conditions caused the tragedies. "The situation is being looked at on that road but I will write to the highways department to raise some of the issues with a view to avoiding similar fatalities in the future," he added.