Coroner raises A45 hydroplaning concerns over accident blackspot

Cody Stock, 22, died in December after his car hydroplaned into a tree on the A45 westbound near Little Irchester.

Since then, there have been two more hydroplaning incidents reported in the same area.

Collision investigators who were on the scene after the incident noted a ‘considerable’ amount of standing water on the road which was slow to drain.

Now assistant coroner for Northamptonshire Hassan Shah has issued a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report asking questions of the authorities over their response to the issues on the road.

Cody was estimated to have been driving at up to 90mph toward on the evening in question. After his car hit a patch of water he skidded into a tree and sustained fatal chest injuries.

At his inquest in July, his death was ruled an accident.

But Mr Shah took the unusual step of issuing a report to help prevent other similar deaths in the future – and that report has now been published.

In it, two other incidents at the same point are detailed.

One happened on February 1 this year, when a BMW hydroplaned, lost control and came to rest on the nearside verge in foliage. Then on February 28, a second vehicle hydroplaned.

The police investigator’s report to the inquest stated: “The centralised location of these collisions suggests that there may be ongoing issues with drainage on this section of the road.”

The investigator also noted that there was standing water in lane two, flowing across to a drain at the side of lane one.

He added: “Upon initial attendance the drain appeared flooded and the water still. Whilst processing the scene, I observed that the water level at the same drain had receded, and I could hear it draining away slowly.”

In response to the police officer’s findings, National Highways told the coroner that they undertake ‘regular maintenance,’ in line with their annual ‘maintenance requirement plan’.

Their statement to the coroner added: “There are no planned renewals as there were no recorded flood events at this location.”

They said that they had arranged for topographical and drainage surveys to take place in Summer 2026 after minor works for ‘overburden removal.’

But Mr Shah’s PFD report raised concerns over the speed at which the National Highways surveys had taken place, given Cody’s death was in December 2025. The results of those surveys are still not available.

He said he was also alarmed at the fact that the trigger for ‘renewals’ was ‘narrow and restricted to recorded flood events’ while not accounting for instances of collisions due to hydroplaning.

He said that he believed there was a risk of future deaths at the site unless action was taken.

North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils, and National Highways, were ordered to respond to the PFD report by September 8. Only West Northamptonshire Council have done so.

A spokeswoman for National Highways told this newspaper that the authority had now responded to the coroner and it would be inappropriate to comment publicly at this stage.