Diesel spillage caused crash

On September 9 last year, a Jaguar XJS heading towards Lewes skidded into the oncoming lane on the A27, just as it reached the short section of dual carriageway after the level crossing. The car collided head-on with a camper van.

Michael Zeal, the 35-year-old Brighton man driving the Jaguar, was killed instantly in the smash. The driver of the Talbot Express camper van David Rowsell, 69, of Firle suffered serious injuries from which he never recovered. He died earlier this year.

Sidney Peters, who was driving behind the Jaguar at the time of the accident, told the coroner that the sports car's front wheels seemed to 'lock up' when it reached the dual carriageway.

Spin

'The nose of the Jag started to slide to the right,' he said. 'I can only assume that the driver tried to correct it by turning the wheel, causing the car to turn. It virtually went into a spin.

'We all seemed to be going so slowly but it all happened so fast. It was obvious what was going to happen, but nothing could be done to prevent it. I guess the driver had accelerated a bit too hard and there was some kind of mechanical fault.'

The inquest heard that a large spillage of diesel on the northern sector of the Beddingham roundabout had been reported to police earlier that afternoon, and that the highways department had ordered contractors to cover the slippery fuel with sand.

Crash investigator PC Graham Welsh said the Jaguar driver's loss of control was probably due to him accelerating too fiercely in the rear-wheel drive vehicle when he reached the wide, open section of A27. He added that the car's tyres may have been contaminated by the spilt diesel, which would have 'exacerbated' the problem.

'I once drove a police car which was contaminated by a big diesel spillage,' he said. 'Control of the car was certainly compromised, even after driving more than thirty miles.'

PC Welsh said that both camper van and Jaguar suffered 'devastating damage' in the crash, the front seats and dashboard of the latter being destroyed almost beyond recognition.

He added that, because of the car being rear-wheel drive, the Jaguar must have 'fishtailed' out of control very quickly after the driver accelerated. The road was wet and slippery anyway, he said, and the possible addition of diesel into the equation would have made things much worse.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death for both Mr Zeal and Mr Rowsell, whose inquests were heard simultaneously.