Teenager told his mother ‘I’m tired’ minutes before A55 crash with lorry

A few minutes before he died in a collision a teenager sent a message to his mother saying: “I’m tired.” Robert Adams, 19, was driving along the A55[1] when his Vauxhall Astra rammed into the back of an articulated lorry travelling in the same direction. His car became wedged under the trailer which contained 13 tons of cheese, and Mr Adams, who suffered major head injuries, was declared dead at the scene. Footage recovered from the teenager’s dashcam which showed the moments leading up to the collision was viewed at an inquest in Ruthin[2] on Friday (May 5) at which members of his family were present.

In a statement read at the hearing his mother, Lorraine Lansbury, said her son had spent the previous afternoon with the family at a fair before going to Deiniolen, near Caernarfon[5], to see his girlfriend Shannon Williams. At 1.25am he called her to say he was on his way home and told her: “I’m tired”. He also showed her a picture of himself on cruise control keeping to the temporary 40mph zone at Talybont.

Nine minutes later the collision occurred on the eastbound carriageway of the A55 near Dwygyfylchi. The driver of the Volvo lorry James Boyce told police he had been slowing down approaching the 30mph zone when the collision occurred, and his tachometer confirmed that he was travelling at 29.2mph. “I thought I had a tyre blowout,” he said.

Van driver Gerald Hobson said he was driving at about 50-60mph when the Astra passed him where the national limit of 70mph applied. A little further on he then saw the car weaving between the two eastbound lanes before being corrected, and it once hit the nearside kerb. In a statement Shannon Williams said that Mr Adams told her he was tired and she saw him yawning before he set off got his home in Trem y Ffair, Kinmel Bay.

Mr Adams was a tyre fitter with Kwik Fit in Colwyn Bay[6] and at the time of his death in May, 2022, his family said he was proud to have recently been promoted. They said he had a heart of gold and always wanted to help others. No mechanical defects were found on either vehicle.

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision. “I don’t believe for one second that he did it deliberately. It was just a result of his being tired,” he said.

References

1. ^ A55 (www.dailypost.co.uk)
2. ^ Ruthin (www.dailypost.co.uk)
3. ^ Dramatic pictures show what happened to stricken yacht off (www.dailypost.co.uk)
4. ^ Anglesey (www.dailypost.co.uk)
5. ^ Caernarfon (www.dailypost.co.uk)
6. ^ Colwyn Bay (www.dailypost.co.uk)