Peter Pringle inquest hear of tragic Alnwick accident

Jun 2 2010 by Alastair Craig, The Journal

A TEENAGE car enthusiast died after fractionally clipping a grass verge around a tight bend, an inquest heard.

Peter Pringle was killed when his red Vauxhall Corsa overturned on a road outside Alnwick in Northumberland on July 3 last year.

He was driving with two friends on Lemmington Bank, which links the A697 with the B6341, when he lost control on the sharp corner and collided with a tree, just six weeks after passing his driving test.

The 17-year-old worked in nearby Wooperton and was travelling home at 5.20pm to Alnwick after being told by bosses at A&J Scott timber yard he was being laid off.

At an inquest into his death yesterday, police collision investigators told North Northumberland coroner Tony Brown that Peter may have misjudged the road layout while attempting to “straighten the bend”.

PC Colin Newman, of Northumbria Police’s Collision Investigation Unit, told the hearing: “I believe there are two likely causes of this accident.

“An inexperienced driver may steer into a bend slightly too early, or try a manoeuvre called ‘straightening the bend’ which requires the correct positioning of a vehicle on a corner.”

PC Newman said it was likely that one of the car’s front wheels had touched the grass verge by the roadside. Peter then lost control as he attempted to steer the vehicle back on to the carriageway.

Peter’s mother Gillian Dodds and other family members struggled to contain their grief as they heard details of his final minutes.

The keen footballer had been travelling with friends David Sloan and Mark McCann, who also worked at the sawmill and escaped life-threatening injuries, when the tragedy unfolded.

Peter's cause of death was given as multiple fatal injuries including a fractured skull. The hearing heard how paramedics battled for 20 minutes using CPR to revive the teenager, but eventually pronounced him dead at the scene.