Plymouth man crushed by driverless fuel tanker

A motorist from Plymouth was killed when he tried to flee a driverless fuel tanker which freewheeled down a hill, an inquest has heard.

Martin Fletcher, 48, of Mylor Close, was crushed between his car and a stone wall on Soper's Hill in Tamerton Foliot at about 06:45 BST on 7 October 2022.

He was heading to work when he came across the DAF fuel tanker and another car blocking the road.

Tanker driver Adam Downing, 38, got out of his vehicle but failed to apply the parking brake, a coroner said before recording a conclusion of death caused by a road traffic collision.

Stephen Covell, assistant coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, said Mr Fletcher got out of his car to investigate the traffic hold up when he was forced to run back to "escape a driverless lorry freewheeling down the hill".

Within three seconds of the driver getting out of the cab, the tanker began rolling down the hill and smashed into a car in front before crashing into Mr Fletcher's Nissan car.

Mr Fletcher, a machine operator, suffered pelvic trauma and blood loss when he was crushed.

He suffered cardiac arrest and died at the scene.

Downing later admitted causing death by careless driving and was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, and given a one-year driving ban.

He had been delivering fuel to a local farm and encountered the cars in the narrow lane and thought his hill start handbrake would safely hold the vehicle, but it only was capable of that for three seconds, the hearing in Plymouth was told.

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