Grange Moor grandfather John Buckley died after crash ‘while not wearing seatbelt’

Sep 9 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A GRANDFATHER who probably wasn’t wearing a seatbelt died during a crash on a foggy morning.

John Buckley, 87, was hit head-on as he turned from Wakefield Road on to Ben Booth Lane in Grange Moor in February.

His Citroen car overturned and fell down a four-foot ditch.

Motorists who rushed to help were unable to save him and Mr Buckley, of Denby Lane Crescent, died of multiple injuries.

Police investigators say it was probable he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

An inquest into his death at Huddersfield Coroner’s Court yesterday heard how the pensioner was driving along Wakefield Road on the morning of February 25, in weather conditions which included patchy fog and mist.

Because it was misty, all motorists were driving well below the speed limit of the road, which is 50mph.

Mr Buckley stopped at the junction of Ben Booth Lane and indicated to turn right. He set off on the manoeuvre but was hit by a Saab driving the opposite way. The impact forced Mr Buckley’s car to overturn and fall down a grass verge.

Saab driver Christopher Hart said: “I’m gutted about it, he was someone’s grandfather.”

But Mr Buckley’s daughter Margaret Wood told him: “I’m just glad you weren’t hurt too.”

Witnesses Aaron Brook and Keith Lamb described the accident as unavoidable.

Mr Brook, from Ossett, was in the car behind Mr Buckley’s and said: “Visibility was fine, there was patchy fog but the lights on other people’s cars could be seen from a distance.

“I’d say he was driving at about 40mph, definitely not anymore or at the speed limit.

“Mr Buckley started the manoeuvre, there was no hesitation from him. I’d say he was 90° through his turn when it happened.”

Mr Hart, of Barnsley, told the inquest: “It was like somebody put a piece of paper in front of me, one second it was clear, the next he was there.

“I couldn’t swerve much because there were other cars I would have hit.

“You don’t realise how heavy cars are, how hard they can hit other cars, what the impact is. I’m gutted about it.”