A Devizes man intentionally steered his car into a lorry’s path on the A361, an inquest held at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court heard today (Thursday).
Terry Burgess, 82, had stopped driving due to a period of ill health which followed a spell in intensive care with COVID 19. On 16 July 2022, he took his keys and drove away from his Lydeway home.
His wife of over five decades, Bridget, ran after him and attempted to open the car doors as he left the driveway – but they were locked, and he did not stop.
She said that Terry’s red Range Rover Evoque was his “pride and joy”. Bridget added that he was “always outside cleaning it” and was “meticulous in his care for the car”.
At around 6.30pm that day, his car collided head-on with a Carlsberg-branded lorry, loaded with beer kegs, near Baltic Farm on the A361 between Devizes and Beckhampton.
The driver and passenger of the lorry told of how the Range Rover suddenly moved into their path, but there were no vehicles to overtake. The passenger said Terry was smiling before the impact.
He said: “He had both hands on the steering wheel, looking straight ahead with a big smile on his face. In my honest opinion, it was suicide.
“He was in his happy place, he did not look angry or struggling… and he made no attempt to take any avoiding action; he made no attempt to avoid the impact.”
The Range Rover was pushed backwards along the road for some distance as the lorry came to a stop. It sustained significant damage and Terry is believed to have died instantly.
Forensic collision investigator PC Michelle Jones said the car “suffered catastrophic damage to the front with significant intrusion into the front driver and the passenger compartment”.
PC Jones found that the lorry driver had not committed any tachograph infringements, was driving at just below the legal speed limit and started braking as soon as the car moved into his lane.
PC Jones concluded: “It is my opinion that Mr Burgess entered the southbound carriageway either as an intentional act due to his recently ill health and slow progress back to his normal cognitive level or due to a medical episode, whether that be a sudden medical episode or mental state due to dementia or delirium caused by medical illness.
PC Rich Hatch, of the Serious Collision Investigation Team, said that Terry was “a popular man locally” and had a successful farming career, adding that he “kept himself busy by producing amazing hand painted signs”.
His wife Bridget said Terry was “making plans to see the family in the coming weeks and months” and “gave no indication that he didn’t want to live any longer”.
She added: “Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought he would intentionally take his life.”
Area coroner Ian Singleton recorded the medial cause of death as A1 multiple traumatic injures and 1B car accident.
He returned a “narrative conclusion”, stating that based on the evidence it was “not possible to determine the reason why Terence’s vehicle moved into the oncoming carriageway”.
Mr Singleton passed his condolences to Terry’s family. Following his passing, his family released a loving tribute to Terry – read it here >
