Accidental verdict at inquest into death of Honda test driver

David Allan, 47, lost control of the CRV prototype on a hilly 'alpine' route at  Millbrook Proving Ground near Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire.
The car flipped onto two wheels and rolled several times before coming to rest 50 metres away on a grassy embankment.

Police tests estimated the car's speed at 61mph, just two miles under the 'critical' point where a perfect line of travel would be needed to stop it from flipping.
The speed limit for the circuit is 55mph.

Emotional scenes played out at Dunstable Coroner's Court yesterday (TUE) as passengers in the car described the tragedy.

Honda product engineer Tom Holland was one of four colleagues given a 'familiarisation' tour by the experienced racing car competitor on July 3 last year.
He said: "I knew Dave was experienced and I didn't feel unsafe in the car but we were going quite quickly. I thought at first it felt like Dave was turning quite sharply but it was difficult to base that on anything else. The car went up on two wheels. It seemed like almost slow motion, it felt like it would drop back down again onto four wheels. All off a sudden things speeded up and it rolled."

At one point Mr Holland broke down with emotion and was handed water by a court clerk as he regathered composure.
He told how 'curtain airbags' deployed in the car as its safety mechanism reacted to an impact from the side.
The chassis specialist managed to free himself from his seatbelt in the back right seat and crawled out through a broken window.

Matthew King was another engineer who joined in the trip, provided by Mr Allan to give less experienced colleagues an overview of the ground.
He said: "I felt there was a quiet in the car, almost as respect for him as a very good driver and let's appreciate what he's doing."
Mr King, who was sitting in the middle rear seat, recalled the moment the car reached the right-hand bend at the start of a downhill slope.
He said: "The first thing I remember is, 'that's strange, I can see a lot of sky through one of the windows, that's not right'.
"I felt very, very slowly that we were going over and I had the same sort of idea that it would right itself but it just kept going and going.
"As soon as the first roll was over I just remember each and every roll. I remember thinking if we don't stop rolling we are in big, big trouble.
"But it just kept going to the point it stopped upside down."Mr King told the inquest he freed himself from the car before shouting: "Dave, you have got to get out, we can't stop here."
The engineer also described how "time seemed to slow down" after he climbed from the car.
But Mr Allan, who died from a severe head injury, did not emerge from the vehicle.

Mark Lee, head of engineering systems, took a 30-second phone call as he sat in the back left seat of the four-wheel drive at the start of the drive. He said: "Normally I drive like my grandmother. I drive reasonably slowly and conservatively.
"With most people I'm not a comfortable passenger. With Dave there's an element of trust as I'm aware of his skill and ability as a driver.
"My feeling was he was going far quicker than I would have dared to drive."
 

Mr Allan's widow, Tammy, who sat in the front row of the inquest, questioned why Mr Lee had joined the trip when her husband had only originally intended to take one passenger, Emma Morrison.
She said::"You told me it was Emma who asked Dave to go out that day. It wasn't Dave asking Emma. That must be clarified.
"Also like you said you were stuck in a room with no air, you went along for the ride, you weren't asked either, you asked yourself." Mr Lee confirmed that he had asked Mr Allan, who was section manager of product engineering, if he could join his colleagues. 
 

Miss Morrison, who at the time was engineering staff co-ordinator, told the inquest that Mr Allan had invited her to take a tour of the "most exciting" loop at the ground. Fighting back tears, she recalled the moment the car tipped over as the wheels lost traction.
Miss Morrison, who had been in the front passenger seat, said:: "I shut my eyes at that point and didn't open them again until the vehicle had stopped."
 

PC Matthew Hollingsworth, accident investigator for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Investigations Unit, said the speed of the car was between 55 and 67mph, with a 10 per cent accuracy range. Tests indicated the most likely speed was 61mph. But on-board data from the CRV's electronic control unit showed it had been travelling at 68mph at some point during the journey, most likely to have been shortly before the crash. A second speed of 50mph was also recorded, possibly as Mr Allan braked to try and avoid disaster.
 

The critical speed for the bend was 63mph, at which point Mr Allan would have to have been travelling in a perfect line for the centrifugal forces to keep the car balanced, PC Hollingsworth said: He told the inquest: "The vehicle was trying to go straight on. Mr Allan was steering to try and get round the bend but the laws of physics are trying to steer it straight on."
 

Mr Allan's father Geoff suggested to PC Hollingsworth that his son might have "deliberately" deviated from the perfect line to avoid a pot hole. But PC Gibbons said the crack in the surface was no more than a minor defect and there was no way of telling without further analysis whether driving over the spot would have prevented the crash.
 

Mr Allan had been at the proving ground as part of a testing programme focussed mainly on making cosmetic adjustments to the CRV.
The pre-production car, which had been built the week before, had been driven from Swindon to fix a noise from a switch connecting to the clutch. The packed inquest also heard from Robin Tremblin, the most senior witness employed by the car giant.
 

Mr Tremblin, who at the time was department manager for product engineering, wiped away tears before giving his evidence.
He said: "Dave had been to Millbrook on many occassions. We had been there before many times, we had driven round Millbrook many times, including in the same vehicle on the same route. I never felt anything but completely safe. He was a highly skilled and talented driver."
 

Mr Tremblin told the inquest he was at a loss as to how such an experienced driver could have lost control of the car.
He said: "He was a fantastic driver. It's just inexplicable. I can't explain it."
Mrs Allan asked if the weight distribution in the car could have made it tip over, but the Honda manager replied; "You can tip any car if you drive hard enough. It's not impossible. The car for me when we were driving before was extremely stable."
 

Mrs Allan also asked another witness, track controller Nick Wignall, why it was not "obligatory" for drivers to wear helmets.
He replied that Millbrook was looking at "extra facilities" to stop such an accident happening again.
Tests on the CRV found the car had been in perfect working order.
Analysis by the police also showed two A-frames at the front of the vehicle had collapsed as it rolled over.
The Health and Safety Executive did not take any action against the ground or Honda following the accident.
Evidence from a total of 18 witnesses was either read out, considered or given live at the inquest.
 

Coroner David Morris recorded a verdict of accidental death after a short deliberation by a jury of seven women and three men.
Mr Allan, from North Swindon, was part of a Honda team which competed in the British Touring Car Championship in 2002.
He drove various cars during his 26-year career with the company, including the Production Class Honda Civic Type R.
Mr Allan was also a regular face at Millbrook, used by TV shows including Top Gear, Fifth Gear and for the James Bond film Casino Royale
 

Sam Tipper, manager of corporate communications for Honda of the UK Manufacturing, told reporters after the inquest that Mr Allan had "tragically" lost his life during a routine testing event.
He said: "David was a popular and valued member of the Honda team and our thoughts are with his family."