EPISODE two of series three of the BBC's Crash Detectives followed Gwent Police’s crash investigation unit as they investigated a crash between a car and a person in Cwmbran.
Jake Harris, 24, was seriously injured when he was hit by a car in Pontnewydd in Cwmbran.
The programme showed how investigators began by analysing the scene – with the BMW written off after driver Daniel Hawkesford, 19, was cut out by fire crews and taken to hospital. The investigators explained how the car went sideways, hit the curb and crashed into a wall – which took the passenger side door off.
The driver’s breath test came back negative, leading to officers wondering how someone could lose control like he had. The driver said he was driving at around 30mph and that he swerved for a cat.
PC Chris Goddard said: “If you’re going to tell us something like that, expect us to check it.”
PC Goddard viewed CCTV which showed the victim walking along the pavement and the car speeding along, onto the path, into a wall and then into the pedestrian. The car was travelling at 60mph after hitting the pavement but on impact of the wall lost some of that speed.
The driver admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and the court heard that it was out of character.
PC Goddard said: “This was horrendous speed.”
The driver was given a 16-month sentence suspended for 18-months and was banned from driving for three years. The victim accepted an apology from the driver.
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The episode also covered a crash between a car and motorbike in Raglan, Monmouthshire, outside a garden centre. The 53-year-old motorcyclist suffered life-threatening injuries but the occupants of the car were unharmed.
Officers heard the car was turning out of the garden centre and the motorbike went into the side of the car before crashing. On investigating, the officers sawhow the car was in first gear and just coming out of the garden centre and on the correct side of the road at the time of impact.
Marks suggested the rider of the motorbike came off after impact and the rider was further away. Further investigation showed the bike was on the wrong side of the road when the impact happened.
The officers found that the rider was the third bike in a group of three friends from the Bristol area. The bike – which was a courtesy bike – had a tracker fitted which recorded the journey.
A laser scan image was used to be able to get more details, showing how, after hitting the car, the rider skidded 37.5m, travelling at 49mph after impact.
The tracker analysis said that he was doing 93mph on a 50mph stretch of road and up to 123mph. PC Ritchie Wyatt said that it was “totally irresponsible riding.”
There were no prosecutions in the Raglan crash.
Crash Detectives is on BBC 1 Wales on Tuesdays at 8.30pm.
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