A DRIVER who had been travelling at “excessive” speeds attempted to overtake another vehicle on the A16 and ploughed head-on into a lorry, an inquest heard.
Zydrunas Krasauskas, of Roman Road, Moulton Chapel, gave HGV driver Jake Buckley no chance to react before the two vehicles collided, which also resulted in two other vehicles being hit. Mr Krasauskas (22) died of multiple injuries.
Giving evidence to the hearing at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Mr Buckley said it had been a dry day with good visibility when the collision happened on August 9 last year.
He said he saw Mr Krasauskas’s black Toyota Celica overtake a Ford Transit pick-up truck before pulling in behind a Ford Focus.
“He did not look like he was going to overtake,” said Mr Buckley. “As I came up to the car he was travelling behind he pulled right the way across in front of me.
“All I can remember is the gentleman having a big grin on his face. I had kept an eye on him because of his previous overtaking.”
Ford Transit driver Colin Pattison said the Celica was travelling at an “excessive” speed when it overtook him just after the roundabout where Moulton Chapel Road meets the A16.
He said: “The HGV driver had no chance of avoiding it because he pulled straight out in front of the lorry. I think I told police he must have been travelling in excess of 80mph when he overtook me.”
Collision investigator PC Paul Whetstone described the damage at the scene from where the Celica and lorry had met head-on, and the Celica had also hit the Ford Focus on its drivers side.
The lorry had also gone on to hit the Ford pick-up truck, which was tipped on to its side.
PC Whetstone said the lorry had been travelling at 54mph, but even if it had been travelling at 40mph a collision would still have been likely.
He said: “From the evidence I have, there is no way he would have had a big enough gap to overtake safely.”
Coroner Maureen Taylor recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Giving her verdict, Miss Taylor said: “All witnesses have stated that Mr Krasauskas was travelling at a high speed and for some unknown reason he pulled out and attempted to overtake the Ford Focus when it was clearly unsafe to do so.”