Passenger 'terrified' by speed before fatal crash

The girlfriend of a speeding driver who was killed when he lost control of his car and crashed into a ditch has told an inquest he was driving like he had a "flipped switch".

Thomas Buck, 20, died and his partner Eve Neathercoat was seriously injured in the crash on the A59 between Moor Monkton and Green Hammerton on 3 March last year.

The inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court heard Buck, from Pateley Bridge, crashed moments after crossed a no-overtaking line to pass two other vehicles at speed.

In a statement, Neathercoat said his driving on the night had left her feeling "terrified". Coroner Jonathan Heath concluded Buck died from injuries sustained in a road traffic collision.

The hearing was told Buck and Neathercoat had been returning from a night out with another couple, Sam Nickson and his partner Millie.

After bowling, the couple had some food before leaving in separate cars.

In her statement, Neathercoat said when Buck had started driving fast she asked him whether he was trying to catch up with his friend, but could not recall him replying.

"I don't know what came over him, it was like a flipped switch in him and it wasn't him anymore," she said.

"I remember feeling the atmosphere changing and something wasn't right, which wasn't the norm for Tom.

"I asked him to slow down and he didn't. I don't know what speed he was going but he was going fast enough to make me scared.

"I was terrified as he was going round the roundabouts as he was going so fast."

She described how he was overtaking throughout the journey and when they got to a point on the road where they could see Nickson's VW Golf, she thought he would slow down but did not.

Buck was pronounced dead at the scene while his girlfriend was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

In a statement, Nickson said he was driving on the A59 - which had a speed limit of 60mph (96km/h) - when he saw a car start to overtake as the road approached a bend.

He said: "It appeared to be going at a decent speed and looked like it was going about going 80 to 90mph."

Nickson added: "At this point I realised it was Tom's car."

The inquest was told both Nickson and the driver of the other car which Buck had overtaken had stopped the scene and called emergency services.

PC Matthew Tanfield, from North Yorkshire Police, told the inquest there had been substantial damage to the Skoda with the car crashing into a tree with such force it was snapped from its stump.

The officer said there was no evidence of "competitive driving" between Buck and his friend and that the crash was a result of his "inappropriate overtake manoeuvre".

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