Court hears of moment 'devoted' Raunds couple died on A14 as concerns raised over junction
A loving couple were killed as their car edged out of a junction onto the A14 near Titchmarsh.
An inquest into the deaths of Richard and Margaret Janowski took place on Thursday (March 20) at The Guildhall in Northampton after the pair died in a crash with another car on the A14’s junction with Titchmarsh.
The court heard that Mr Janowski was driving during the collision on the evening of November 10, 2023, with his wife, Margaret.
They were entering the A14 via the junction with Titchmarsh on their way home to Raunds, and collided with an oncoming car after failing to stop at the give way line.
Emergency services attended the scene of the incident shortly after, but were unfortunately unable to prevent the death of the pair, both aged 74, whom had died shortly after the impact.
Coroner Hassan Shah determined the cause of death for Richard Janowski was a head injury and an acute myocardial insufficiency, as police were able to confirm from the data that Mr Janowski had use of his feet for braking, thus he had not had a heart attack before the collision.
Margaret Janowski’s official cause of death was a fatal injury to her heart.
PC Jenny Ridgely attended the hearing to give evidence. She said: “All marks on the car line up to their post-impact position.
"The Kia (Mr Janowski’s car) was just crossing the give way line on the junction, at no point was the car stationary.
"The view is so considerable that it wasn’t deemed a factor.
“It’s not an ideal junction, it’s not one I would use.”
PC Jenny Ridgely of the police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit also said that, while there is no legal requirement to stop at a give way line, the obligation is to stop when there is oncoming traffic present.
The court heard that Mr Janowski was driving at three miles per hour in the central reservation, and accelerated to 10 miles per hour when crossing the road, one second before impact.
Coroner Hassan Shah determined in his findings that the give way line on the junction was ‘faded, but adequate.’
The inquest at The Guildhall in Northampton was attended by daughter Amanda Smith and other family members of the Raunds couple, as well as the driver of the Citroen C1 that was involved in the collision.
Fighting tears, Amanda said: “The lighting is really poor there, it’s essentially down to local knowledge.”
“I have got strong feelings about the safety of this road, and it appears to me that it is inadequate. Had there been better lighting there this might not have happened at all.”
According to the pathologist there were ‘no significant toxicological findings’, meaning there was no sign of alcohol or drugs in either of the couple’s bodies.
Ambulance crews received a call at 9.26pm and arrived at 9.56. The court heard both Mr and Mrs Janowski were in cardiac arrest when East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) arrived, being told it was a category two call.
The incident was initially flagged to ambulance services as a one-vehicle collision, and when they arrived, there was a delay in action due to the position of the vehicles being in close proximity to a live lane of traffic.
Aaron Errington, Specialist Paramedic Practitioner at EMAS gave a statement to the court. He said: "From an ambulance point of view if we are aware that a patient was unconscious or in cardiac arrest it would have changed the call to a category one. In this case that evidence was not available to us at that time.
“At no point did Mrs Janowski respond to our intervention, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I would like to extend my condolences to the family and extend my gratitude to the emergency services on the scene.”
in his final summary, Coroner Hassan Shah agreed with the pathologist who said that the head injury sustained by Mr Janowski was the ‘most significant’ factor in his death, however believed it to be a ‘combination’ of the head injury and an acute myocardial insufficiency.
He said: "In terms of the behaviour of the drivers, the driver of the Citroen would have probably had about one second to respond.
"The accident occurred because of a failure to give way.”
Coroner Hassan Shah praised the work of the emergency services, saying ‘a stellar job was done by police and ambulance services, thank you very much.’