Husband Saw Wife Moments Before Fatal Lorry Crash

A husband saw his wife cycling on the road shortly before she was knocked down and killed in a collision with an HGV lorry, a court has heard.

Nicolette Lewis - an experienced cyclist and member of a local cycling club - died at the scene of the collision on the A476 near Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire in October, 2023. HGV driver John Evans denies causing the death of Mrs Lewis by careless driving and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court.

Helen Randall, opening the case for the prosecution, said at 5pm on October 9, 2023, Mrs Lewis was cycling on the A476 near Fairfach heading in the direction of Cross Hands, and said that travelling behind the cyclist and heading in the same direction was a Volvo tractor unit and tanker trailer being driven by the defendant.

The barrister said a motorist waiting at a junction to pull onto the main road saw the lorry make contact with the cycle, "throwing" the rider into the air and into a roadside ditch.

She said the defendant would later tell the motorist - in Welsh - "I didn't see her. The sun was in my eyes".

The court heard a number of motorists stopped and tried to help Mrs Lewis until paramedics from the Wales Air Ambulance arrived and took over, but the 52-year-old was in "established cardiac arrest" and could not be saved. She was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The defendant was arrested and answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview. The court heard he later submitted a defence case statement in which he said that as he came around a bend in the road he was "blinded by the sun" and a few seconds later collided with the bike, and that there was nothing he could do.

The prosecutor said it was not in dispute that the 63-year-old defendant had been the driver of the lorry in question and that the vehicle had driven into collision with Mrs Lewis's bike, thereby causing her death.

She told members of the jury that the question for them was whether the defendant was driving without due care and attention at the time of the collision - that is, was his driving below the standard that would be expected of a careful and competent driver.

The jury heard a series of written statements and agreed facts in evidence which were read to the court by the prosecution barrister.

The court heard Mrs Lewis was a "strong and experienced" cyclist who was a member of a local cycling club and who had taken part in events such the Cardiff to Tenby bike ride.

The court heard she would go cycling "most evenings" and that at around 4.45pm on the day in question her husband Andrew had seen her out on her bike as he drove home.

The court also heard that the defendant had told a driver who stopped at the scene - in Welsh - "I didn't see her. The sun was in my eyes" - and that he seemed "shocked". The witness noticed a smashed nearside headlight on the Volvo cab.

The court also heard a statement from one of the first police officers on the scene in which he said Evans told him "I never saw the bike. The sun was low and I hit the back of the bike". The officer also noted damage to front nearside lights on the Volvo.

The jury also heard a series of agreed facts including that Evans had first inserted the driver's card into the Volvo's tachograph device at 3.15am on the day in question and had driven for a total of eight hours and 52 minutes having taken on the required breaks; that no mechanical faults had been found on the vehicle; and that the Volvo did not have a working dashcam, the unit having been decommissioned by the previous owners before being acquired by Richard Thomas haulage.

The court also heard that weather on the day in question had been fine and dry with "bright sun low in the sky"; that the lorry had passed through a wooded area some 120 metres prior to the point of collision; and that police had conducted five test runs in the lorry at the same time of year recording the view from the cab using a head-mounted video camera; and that the Highway Code said that if a driver was dazzled by bright sunlight he or she should slow down or stop.

John Evans, of Llangynog, Carmarthenshire, denies causing death by careless driving, and the trial continues.