A father of six was killed in a Christmas Eve crash when a car he was a passenger in left the road and flew into the air over a ditch, a hedge and a fence before coming to a stop in a field.
Paul Benson, 53, who had been sitting in the front seat passenger seat hadn’t been wearing a seat belt and an inquest heard today he was flung from the car as it crashed into the field.
A paramedic who arrived on the scene found the driver of the car desperately trying to save Mr Benson with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
But despite the best efforts of the emergency workers, Mr Benson couldn’t be saved and he was declared dead at the scene.
The crash happened on the east bound carriageway of the A421 near to the junction for Marston Mortaine at around 7.30pm on the evening of December 24, 2020.
At an inquest into Mr Benson’s death on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, Bedfordshire Assistant Coroner, Dr Sean Cummings was told he had died from multiple traumatic injuries in the one vehicle crash.
Those injuries included truma to the chest wall and a fracture of his cervical spine.
The court was Mr Benson who lived in Liddlington, hadn’t been wearing a seat belt that evening.
Dr Cummings was told had he been wearing his seat belt, it was unlikely he would have been thrown out of the silver Ford Focus.
The inquest was told that no faults or defects had been found by police experts during an examination of the car, although the driver had reported it suddenly ‘behaving erratically’ and losing power with the revs going up and down.
The court heard the driver may have been distracted, but no charges have been brought against him.
Dr Cummings concluded that Mr Benson had died as a a result of a road traffic collision
Shortly after his death, the family of Mr Benson issued a statement saying: “Paul was a much-loved partner to Avril, and a father to six wonderful children.
“Paul was a true legend who had a positive impact on everyone’s lives, and he will be missed by all.”
