Open verdict on tragedy
John Arstall, 44, ploughed his C-reg Jaguar XJS into a railway bridge on the B6047 at Church Langton, near Market Harborough, at around 5am on November 20, last year. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The family said they were unhappy with the state of road markings and warning signs at the time of the crash, despite a coroner yesterday recording an open verdict. Signs have since been updated by the County Council, and crashes had all but stopped.
Following the inquest at Leicester Town Hall, Mr Arstall's mother, Gwendoline Arstall, from Kibworth, said she feared she would never know why he died.
She said: "If they say it was an open verdict we can't prove otherwise. But I definitely think that the signs contributed.
"One of the chevron warning signs was on theground. It was so dark and black when it happened. I think they need lights to warn drivers before they slow down."
At the inquest, Mr Arstall's brother-in-law, Russell Askew, pleaded to the coroner: "The family does not accept that at the time of the accident the signage was adequate. We just want to know what happened." The inquest heard Mr Arstall was a paranoid schizophrenic who stopped taking his medication two months before the crash, but appeared to be fine.
The night before the crash he had left his sheltered housing in Braunstone, Leicester, to visit his mum and friends in Harborough.
Anthony Julian, who lives 20 yards from the bridge, said there had been a series of accidents. He said: "They normally hit the bridge pillar on the left. He didn't, he hit it further round. It was pitch black. When I went out I thought at first he had got away with it, because there was no sound. But it seemed to have hit the bridge and flipped over.
"I had contacted the county council about a week and a half before and said it needed better signage or there would be a fatality. There were about three accidents in the week before his death. Since the accident, the signage is brilliant."
Crash investigator Pc Adrian Carlyle said it was difficult to judge the cause, although Mr Arstall appeared not to be wearing a seatbelt.
He said warning signs near the bridge had been damaged, cats' eyes were missing and the surface worn. He wrote to the council asking for improvements.
Assistant deputy coroner Martin Gotheridge said he appreciated the family's anxiety, but said it was impossible to say why the crash happened, particularly as Mr Arstall appeared to know the road.
He said: "We simply do not know if anything might have caused Mr Astall to alter the way he was driving. I accept the signage approaching the bend may not have been as good as it is now. That may have affected someone not familiar with the road and who approached the bridge at some speed."
He said there was no more evidence to suggest it was an accident, than there was to suggest Mr Arstall drove at the bridge deliberately.
A county council highways spokesman said: "We cannot comment further on this location until we have studied the outcome of this inquest."
The wreckage of the Jaguar
