A mother watched on in horror as her ‘talented’ student teacher daughter was killed in a ‘catastrophic’ car crash just yards from her home.
Rhiannon Smith, 21, from Llandevaud, near Newport, suffered a traumatic brain injury during the collision on March 16.
She had just left her parents’ house in her Toyota Yaris when a Range Rover driven by Neil Fowler, 58, smashed into her from behind.
Trainee teacher Rhiannon Smith, 21, was tragically killed in a car crash in front her horrified mother Gill (both pictured)
The shocking incident happened in front of her horrified mother Gill, who saw the crash as she waited for her younger daughter’s school bus.
Ms Smith was studying to be a teacher and was enrolled in a PGCE course at Gloucester University at the time of the tragic accident.
In a statement read out at her daughter’s inquest, in Newport, Mrs Smith said: ‘At 7.15am, me and Sophie (Ms Smith’s sister) got into my Volkwagen Beetle and as we left our drive I noticed Rhiannon’s, a silver Toyota Yaris, was outside the door.
‘I drove a small distance to the junction of Chepstow Road. We are all aware of the dangers going out onto the main road. We’ve all had close calls with various pulling outs of this lane.
‘I later stopped to wait for the bus. Sophie was looking at her mobile phone or a book and a short time later I saw Rhiannon’s car pull out of the junction.
‘There was a steady flow of traffic from Chepstow to Newport and the next thing I can remember was the crash. Rhiannon had been hit by a Range Rover coming from the right side behind me.
Mrs Smith was waiting for a bus for her younger daughter Sophie (left, with Ms Smith) when the accident took place (right, Ms Smith)
‘I jumped out of the car and could see she was injured so I ran back to Sophie and asked her to call and ambulance.’
The driver of the Range Rover Mr Fowler was travelling from his home in Risca to his workplace in Caldicot on the morning of the collision.
In a written statement, he said: ‘A car just appeared from the left side straight in front of me. I tried to brake but I knew I had hit the car.
‘All the air bags deployed and I can remember veering off to the side of the road. It was quite disorientating because the impact was quite high.’
He added: ‘I can remember seeing the other driver’s face when she turned and looked at me. The horror on her face, I couldn’t describe it.
‘She was so scared and I knew I had hit her on the door.’
Rhiannon and younger sister Sophie with her father Julian and mother Gill
Ms Fowler was studying to be a teacher at the time of the accident and was enrolled in a PGCE teacher training course at university
Mr Fowler was taken to hospital where he received treatment for bruising and whiplash and was discharged the following day.
Speaking about the crash, he said: ‘I kept getting flashback and when I heard the girl was I was greatly distressed and then a week later someone told me she had died which was upsetting.
‘I have tried to find an explanation and the only thing I can think of is she didn’t see me.’
PC Anthony Parker, of the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit gave evidence at the inquest having attended the scene of the accident.
He confirmed that Ms Smith’s Yaris had suffered ‘catastrophic damage’ as a result of the collision.
The officer confirmed that Mr Fowler had been driving at 52mph on a stretch of the A48 with a 50mph speed limit, but the extra 2mph did not have a significant impact.
Senior coroner for Gwent David Bowen described Ms Smith as a ‘young and obviously talented trainee teacher’
He said that the Yaris was only at the junction for five seconds and had only stopped for a fracture of a second.
However, PC Parker said the biggest factor in the collision was a car parked legally on the A48 which had blocked the vision of the Yaris and the Range Rover from one another.
He said: ‘The vehicle would have been behind the blind spot for three-and-a-half seconds which is the time Ms Smith took to decide she was away from the collision.
‘The parked vehicle has created a major incident and I would think it was the biggest factor in this collision.’
Senior coroner for Gwent David Bowen described Ms Smith as a ‘young and obviously talented trainee teacher’ and recorded a conclusion of an accidental death in a road traffic incident.
The coroner praised Ms Smith and her parents’ decision to allow her organs to be reused by others in need.
Speaking after the inquest, Mr and Mrs Smith said the death of their daughter, who Mr Smith described as ‘happy and loving life’ in his statement, might have been prevented with a lower speed limit.
Mr Smith said: ‘We’re still keen that something can be done with the road and the parked car situation.
‘I hope to talk to the council about what can be done about the junction in the coming months. The A48 is a dangerous road.’
Mrs Smith added: ‘The police and the coroner took on board the issue of the parking space, which needs blocking off, and if the speed can be reduced that would be ideal.’