By Gary Cooper

A SALESMAN who died after his van hit the rear of a truck was not wearing a seatbelt, a fatal accident inquiry at Forfar Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

A police officer at the scene of the A90 crash near the town described how the belt was fixed in place, but looped around the back of Darren Alexander Allan’s driver’s seat.

However, a medical expert said even if he had been wearing it, the belt would not have made much difference.

The evidence emerged during the hearing into the death on January 11 of Mr Allan (28), of East Kilbride, who worked for Qfi Roofline Specialists of Dunfermline. He died near the Bogindollo junction of the dual carriageway as he drove north.

The inquiry heard he was driving a Renault Clio van to an appointment with a customer at Brechin that evening, when the collision happened.

The other vehicle was a slow-moving 7.5-ton truck with a livestock container, carrying two horses, driven by farmer George Skinner (66), of Pitcaple, Aberdeenshire. He was also on his way north, alone, after picking up the two-year-old animals from Fife.

Mr Skinner said he was driving on the inside lane at 20-25 mph after the vehicle’s throttle control developed a fault, although he felt that would have been the appropriate speed anyway for the weather conditions that dark night, bearing in mind his cargo.

He said it was wet and there were very strong side winds buffeting his lorry.

The farmer’s first indication of the accident was a “tremendous knock” at the back of his lorry, which pushed it forward, the whiplash impact throwing his head, neck and body backwards.

The inquiry, in front of Sheriff Kevin Veal, heard he stopped and checked his horses, which looked okay, before going to the wrecked Clio, to be told to return to his lorry by police who had arrived at the scene.

Mr Skinner said there was considerable damage to the rear of his truck, the impact breaking the drawbar.

Asked by fiscal depute Brian Bell if there was anything he could have done to prevent the accident, Mr Skinner replied, “No, sir.”

Police traffic officer Harvey Birse was at the scene of the accident five minutes after receiving the call to attend and found Mr Allan slumped over the passenger seat.

PC Birse said, “His seatbelt was fastened, but it was round the back of his seat. Obviously, he had not been wearing it.”

When asked why the belt was fastened around the seat, he responded, “Possibly there might have been a seatbelt alarm or for detection purposes. If police were behind, it would look like you were wearing it.”

The constable said Mr Allan had been behind a lorry, which has never been traced, when overtaking, before moving to the inside lane of the dual carriageway and colliding with Mr Skinner’s vehicle.

Asked by Mr Bell about the question of undertaking, PC Birse added, “If he was impatient behind the lorry, that is a possibility.”

Dr David Saddler, of the forensic laboratory at Dundee University, carried out a post mortem examination.

He attributed Mr Allan’s death to multiple blunt-force injuries, describing them as “severe.”

Toxicology reports proved negative for drink or drugs and he agreed there was nothing in the deceased’s body that could have impaired his ability to drive.

When asked by Mr Bell if wearing a seatbelt would have made any difference, he replied, “No, I don’t think wearing a seatbelt would have made much difference.”

Dr Saddler highlighted the intrusion of the rear of the lorry into the front of the van in arriving at his verdict.

The accident had unfolded in front of nurse Iain Burns, of Northwater Bridge, who had finished a shift at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, and was driving to his former home at Edzell.

“It happened so quickly and in a blur,” he said.

“I just noticed the white car the gentleman (Mr Allan) was driving going into the back of the lorry.”

In a statement to police, he said, “There were bits flying off and lots of steam and smoke.

“I remember seeing the Clio’s brake lights coming on but that was just as it hit the lorry.”

He went to Mr Allan’s aid and said, “I looked at him. I knew he was killed instantly. I tried to get a pulse, but there was nothing.”

Mr Allan’s former salesman colleague Alastair Thomson (41), of Glendale Park, Kirkcaldy, said they had swapped vehicles before the accident.

The Clio involved was six or seven months old and he described it as excellent and the seatbelts “fine.”

Mr Thomson had been chatting to his colleague by mobile phone shortly before the accident.

He said Mr Allan had had to drive from Fife via Stirling as the Tay Road Bridge was closed.

“You could hear it in his voice he was frightened to be driving in that weather,” said Mr Thomson. “All he kept on saying was ‘the weather’s atrocious here.’ He did say he was scared.”

Mr Thomson discovered the next morning his colleague had been killed in the crash.

Sheriff Veal, who said the inquiry had been necessitated as Mr Allan had died while working, returned a formal verdict.