Taxi driver died after crash with lorry on A5 in Northamptonshire, inquest hears

Balmer Bains, aged 51, died at the scene of the crash near the junction for Watford village shortly before 4.30am on February 15.

An inquest, held at Northampton General Hospital, heard Mr Bains was driving a Mercedes Vito, a minibus-style taxi, from the Watford direction.

The driver of the Scania HGV, who gave evidence at the inquest, said he was travelling at 50mph in the direction of Weedon when he saw the minibus moving towards the junction.

The driver said, as he entered the junction, he was “shocked” to see the minibus continue into his path.

The lorry collided with the side of the minibus, shunting it along the road and into some trees.

The driver, who managed to stop his vehicle in the middle of the road, said: “I was totally in shock, I could not move.

“I did not know what to do. All of a sudden paramedics arrived.”

PC David Watson , a collision investigator, said the lorry driver would have had “between one and one-and-a-half seconds” to brake and would not have been able to avoid the collision.

He said: “The Mercedes driver has either not seen the lorry entirely or misjudged the distance and speed.”

Mr Bains’s wife Teresa said he was a “very special person who did not have a bad bone in his body.”

Mr Bains lived in Coventry and was the father of two sons.

County coroner Anne Pember recorded a verdict of accidental death.