Tragic teen was ‘travelling too quickly’, inquest hears

A teenager who was simply ‘travelling too quickly’ died from a severe brain injury when he rolled his car in to a field, an inquest was told.
Jack Chandler, from the Facebook tribute page 'Jack Chandler Gone Too Soon'.Jack Chandler, from the Facebook tribute page 'Jack Chandler Gone Too Soon'.
Jack Chandler, from the Facebook tribute page 'Jack Chandler Gone Too Soon'.

Jack Chandler crashed his red Vauxhall Corsa on Pinxton Lane, between Sutton and Pinxton, in broad daylight after failing to negotiate a bend and clipping a verge.

Police investigation teams concluded that hitting the verge sent the 19-year-old’s car back across the carriageway, that he then tried to correct the car but which sent him into a spin and turned the car onto its side.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It then collided with a Derbyshire border road sign, putting the car on its roof before it came to rest approximately seven metres from the road.

The inquest at Nottinghamshire Coroner’s Court this week was told that Jack, of Talbot Street, Pinxton, suffered a ‘devastating brain injury’ in the crash which happened at around 12.35pm on Saturday, March 7, this year.

He died at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham three days later with his family at his bedside.

Giving evidence, Dean Griffiths, a van driver who had passed Jack’s Corsa just moments before the accident told the inquest at Nottingham Council House he thought the Corsa was doing ‘at least 60mph’.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Before he had even learned that the car had crashed, he told a friend about the small red car that had been ‘flying down’ the road.

The inquest was told how Jack’s work colleagues at AvailableCar.com, where he worked as an apprentice body-shop paint sprayer, had warned him on previous occasions about his ‘erratic’ driving, while other witnesses on that fateful day had said he was driving too fast and at one point had tried to undertake a vehicle.

Driving conditions on Pinxton Lane had been described as being good, with excellent visibility.

Toxicology reports found he had no drink or drugs in his system that could have impaired his driving ability.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mairin Casey, HM Coroner for Nottinghamshire, recorded his death as a road traffic collision, and told Jack’s mother, father and sister at the inquest: “He was travelling too quickly on that road at that time.

“It’s an unspeakable loss for you.

“The only message is yet again, younger drivers need to be mindful of the hazards of driving in excess of the speed limit.

“It’s more of a hazard of age and youth.”

The family did not wish to comment after the verdict was passed.

A Facebook page, ‘Jack Chandler Gone Way Too Soon’ was set up after his death.