Overview
- The Ford Fiesta left Old Ferry Road near Iwade and landed upside down in a water-filled drainage ditch, and two teenagers died from drowning.
- The crash, which occurred on January 3, left a 16-year-old back-seat passenger trapped for about three hours before her father located the partly submerged car using the Life360 location app.
- The surviving passenger’s police statement read at the inquest described frantic attempts to escape, one friend tapping her to give courage to unclip a seatbelt, and the driver repeatedly saying "I am sorry, I am so sorry."
- Collision investigators said there was no evidence the driver exceeded the speed limit but he was likely driving too fast for the dark, sharp bend and road conditions, and the coroner recorded accidental death verdicts.
- Police sought charges against the driver's legal guardian for permitting unlicensed and uninsured driving, but the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute and the survivor has since been discharged from hospital.