A MAN from Woodley died after he lost control of his car while two-and-a-half-times over the drink drive limit, an inquest has heard.
Andrew James Isgar, 32, of Alderley Close, died on July 17 this year after losing control of his BMW 1 series and colliding with a wall in Pound Lane, Sonning.
During the inquest, held at Reading Town Hall on Wednesday morning, eye-witness Marcus Witt told the coroner how Mr Isgar had been ‘tailgating’ his Ford Fiesta as he drove through the village at around 6.35pm.
He said: “I was driving home from work and was the last car over the bridge in Sonning, but a short while later I noticed a white BMW following me very closely, he must have pulled out from a side-road.
“He was so close behind me that I could see him in my rear-view mirror trying to peer around my car, I knew he was going to do something.”
CCTV from a residential property in Sonning captured Mr Isgar’s vehicle travelling at 43mph in a 20mph zone, and following very closely behind the Ford Fiesta.
As the two cars approached the roundabout on the A4 Bath Road, Mr Witt said he moved into the left lane to continue straight ahead towards Woodley, and noticed the BMW pull up beside him ‘quickly’.
He said: “I just had a feeling that he was going to try to overtake me on the roundabout.
“He was going too fast, I would say around 60mph. He clipped the kerb and missed my front bumper by a matter of inches.”
The inquest heard how the white BMW partially mounted a kerb, narrowly missing a lamppost, before Mr Isgar overcorrected, sending the car back onto the road before veering off and colliding with a brick wall of a residential garden.
The impact threw the car backwards, flipping it onto its roof where it came to rest, with the driver’s side down.
Mr Witt said that once the car had come to rest, he got out of his car and rushed over to see if the driver was ok.
He told the inquest that he saw a mobile phone lying on the floor of the car, and could hear a female voice, but this was later determined to be the car’s collision assist function, whereby if the car registers a sharp deceleration which could result in injury, a remote assistant will telephone the driver to check if they are ok.
Another witness, who gave evidence via a written statement, said that he was travelling towards the roundabout from Woodley when he saw the collision take place. He said he got out of his car and immediately called the emergency services, who he said arrived ‘very quickly’.
Ambulance crews arrived on the scene within minutes but were unable to retrieve Mr Isgar from the car. Fire crews were called to assist, and the roof was removed in order to free him. All of the airbags had been deployed in the crash.
He was administered CPR and intravenous fluids and blood before being transferred to the Royal Berkshire Hospital where he passed away later that evening.
A toxicology report found that Mr Isgar had 210mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system: the legal limit is 80mg.
The findings concurred with the evidence given by Ursea Radu, a worker at the Coppa Club in Sonning, who said that Mr Isgar was a regular customer.
He said in a written statement: “Mr Isgar would often come to the Coppa Club, and would drink a few pints of cider. My colleagues said that on the day of the crash he came in around 4pm and had between two and four pints.”
CCTV showed Mr Isgar’s car leaving the car park in Sonning at 6.36pm before turning left onto Thames Street.
His partner told the coroner, Emma Jones, that the couple would often go to the Coppa Club, but would order a taxi to take them home.
She said: “He had an account with Uber, and he would often leave his car at Coppa Club and come back for it the next day.
“I’ve never known him to drink and drive.”
Mr Isgar’s father Paul said: “It was a shock. He stayed with us at the weekends because he worked away from home a lot. He knew that was a red line that you do not cross.
“He was sensible and mature, he loved driving and he loved his car, it is just so out of character.”
Medical records from Loddon Vale Practice noted that Mr Isgar had sought help for alcohol dependency syndrome in 2010, but the records did not show any follow-up appointment or referral for counselling.
His father added: “We never knew about that, he would have a drink with his meals when he was staying in hotels with work, and he would have a drink with us at the weekend.”
A post-mortem examination found that Mr Isgar was suffering from alcoholic fatty liver disease, but that he was otherwise in good health. He had suffered extensive hemorrhaging around his liver, pancreas and abdomen.
A forensic examination of Mr Isgar’s vehicle and the road conditions at the time of the crash showed that the BMW was in good mechanical condition, and that the road surface, weather and visibility were all good.
Forensic vehicle examiner Tony Reading from Hampshire Constabulary said: “Mr Isgar lost control of his car and it was beyond his abilities to be able to correct it.
“If he had enough time and distance, he would probably have been able to correct the car, but the alcohol slowed his reactions.
“I can’t say whether he would have got out of it if he was sober, but it would have improved his chances.”
Ms Jones recorded that Mr Isgar’s death was caused by a road traffic collision.
