A driver has gone on trial accused of killing a motorcyclist when the bungee cord that was securing the bonnet on his car failed causing the bonnet to suddenly fly open and block his view. Terance Jenkins responded to his bonnet opening by performing an emergency stop in the road.
The biker who was following him, James Huxtable, was unable to stop in time and crashed into the back of his Ford Focus. Aston Martin factory worker Mr Huxtable suffered fatal injuries in the collision and despite passers-by and emergency workers performing CPR at the scene he could not be saved. Jenkins denies a charge of causing death by dangerous driving and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court in a trial expected to last five days.
Opening the case for the prosecution James Hartson told the jury that when they think of dangerous driving they may think of issues such as grossly excessive speed or racing on a public road or a driver being distracted by use of a mobile while at the wheel but the case before it was an unusual one in that the principal basis of the prosecution was not the defendant's driving but the state of his vehicle. The barrister said the fatal collision happened at around 4.10pm on September 7, 2021, on the A4107 Afan Valley road between Cymmer and Duffryn Rhondda as both the defendant and Mr Huxtable were heading in a northerly direction. He said at the time of the collision there was no bonnet locking mechanism, secondary locking mechanism, or locking "slam plate" on Jenkins' Ford Focus and that the bonnet was secured by a bungee cord. He said additionally the car was fitted with a non-standard radiator, there were no indicators or headlights, it had a major oil leak in the engine, and the exhaust pipe was detached from its bracket.
