Personal injury news
08/04/2010

Soldier dies after swerving into lorry in Tidworth

Relatives of a soldier killed after swerving to avoid a pothole may make a personal injury claim against Wiltshire County Council for the man's death.

The 29-year-old Captain was cycling home from his base when he is believed to have swerved to avoid a 15ft –long crater and collided with a passing lorry.

He suffered multiple injuries as he was crushed under the front wheels of the HGV and died at the scene on the A338 on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

The pothole, a mile north of Tidworth, was filled in by Wiltshire Council a couple of days later.

Local councillor Andrew Connolly said, "The roads are just awful, awful and this particular pothole was more like a trench."

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this crater was a direct causal factor behind this young man's tragic death."

PC David Cooper, of Wiltshire Police's serious collision investigation team, said: "The collision occurred in a stretch of road where there is a pothole, although it is too soon to say whether this is to blame."

If the pot hole is found by the coroner to be the cause of the death, it is possible that the family may be eligible for making a personal injury compensation claim against Wiltshire Council.