12:32 pm, January 27, 2014
A POPULAR 28-year-old car salesman died after losing control of a high-performance Lotus, an inquest heard.
Ben Shepherdson hit another vehicle head-on while attempting an overtaking manoeuvre in the Lotus Elise he was driving in Altrincham, Cheshire.
The car was the property of the garage where he worked, Christopher Neil Specialist Cars in Northwich, run by his father Neil.
The inquest into Ben’s death, reported in the Manchester Evening News, heard that he was driving to his home in Brown Street, Hale, in the early evening of September 15 last year.
He was overtaking another vehicle on the A56 Dunham Road in Altrincham when he was involved in a head-in collision with a black 3 series BMW.
The car Ben was overtaking was a taxi being driven by Syed Hassan, who told the inquest that he could hear the ‘roaring voice’ of the car behind him. He added that the road at the time was wet and slippery.
The driver of the BMW, Elizabeth Baker, said she saw the front end of the Lotus wobble before the vehicle veered to the right. It all happened in ‘a matter of literally seconds,’ she added.
The inquest was told that Ben was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident.
The inquest also heard from accident reconstruction officer PC Nicholas Avery who described the Lotus as ‘not a forgiving vehicle’.
Coroner Joanne Kearsley recorded a verdict of accidental death, adding that research showed ‘these vehicles can be somewhat difficult when accelerating on a corner’.
Ben, described as a careful and confident driver, was admired by his many friends and adored by his parents and family, the inquest heard.
And a tribute on the Lotus Forums website described him as ‘a nice, well-mannered young man’.
