A student cycled into the path of a speeding motorist who couldn’t realistically have stopped in time, an inquest has heard. Sport fanatic Joshua Fletcher, from Pillgwenlly in Newport, died immediately from a skull fracture when he was struck on the Southern Distributor Road (A48) beside the Blaina Wharf pub by a Ford Focus being driven by William Davies on October 16, 2020 at 12.52pm.
While police investigations established that Mr Davies had been driving at 48mph in the 40mph zone heading west on the A48 for at least 42 metres, the court heard that Mr Fletcher “failed to cross the road safely” at the time of the crash, hadn’t been wearing a helmet and had earphones on with music playing.
Mr Fletcher had been travelling home from college when he crossed the eastbound carriageway safely while pedestrian lights were on green and traffic lights were on red, but the hearing heard how the 16-year-old seemed to have misjudged the second set of lights on the westbound carriageway when he reached the crossing in the middle of the road.
