This article from last week details some of the evidence heard at the inquiry.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2008 ... 2355t0.asp
FAI told of Leven man’s taxi crash
By Gordon Berry
A TAXI driver who was killed in an early morning road accident near Cupar might have survived if he had been wearing his seat belt at the time, a fatal accident inquiry at Cupar Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
The inquiry was told that although the taxi had been later found to have a defective tyre this had not contributed to the accident.
Malcolm Dowds [48] of Riverside Way, Leven, was killed around 2am on November 26, 2006, while he was employed by Cupar firm A&J Taxis.
Mr Dowds’ taxi left the road between Pitlessie and Cupar, entered a field and flipped over, fatally injuring him as he was thrown out.
PC Roderick Benzies, a police vehicle and accident examiner and investigator, said that he had been called to the scene around 2.40am. He found that the weather was fair and the road surface was damp but not wet.
There had been a tyre mark onto a footway then back onto the road and it seemed that the taxi had crossed a verge into a field and had travelled on its side for around 30m before digging in and flipping over several times.
PC Benzies said he had later examined the car and had found a spare seat belt buckle clicked into the holder in the drivers seat, silencing the warning signal. The driver’s belt was hanging loose, not having been worn.
During his examination he had also found one tyre to have an illegally low tread but he said that, in his opinion, because the road was not wet, this would not have contributed to the accident.
The tyre condition would have had “little or no effect” on the vehicle’s handling.
Asked by Sheriff George Evans about the effect of the victim of the accident wearing a seat belt, PC Benzies said that while he could not say this would have saved him entirely, it would have made a difference if he had been restrained inside the vehicle.
The witness went on to say that Mr Dowds might still have received serious injuries, but they might not have been fatal because he could not have been thrown out of the car.
The structure of the vehicle was found after the accident to be sound, and Mr Dowds would have had a “much better chance”.
PC Benzies said he had concluded that the accident had been due to human error either because of distraction or tiredness when Mr Dowds had over steered slightly while rounding a bend.
There had been insufficient marks on the road to assess at what speed the vehicle had been travelling.
The inquiry was also told by witness Norman Robertson, of Springfield, that he had come across the accident scene when he investigated a red light shining in a field.
He said that when he arrived at the vehicle the windscreen wipers had been going, the car was very badly damaged and Mr Dowds was lying beside it.
One of the taxi driver’s colleagues, Alistair McDonald, said that he had been driving another taxi around 1.40am when Mr Dowds’ vehicle had passed him going in the opposite direction.
He added that at that time Mr Dowds had flashed his headlights and had given him a “thumbs up” sign.
The owner of the taxi firm, Andrew Brown, said that he had spoken to Mr Dowds when he began working at 6pm. Mr Dowds had said he had a stomach upset but felt okay to work.
The inquiry had earlier been told in an affidavit from Mr Dowds’ wife that she had asked him not to go to work because he had not been well.
A forensic pathologist, Dr David Sadler, said that there had been no sign of alcohol intoxication, that Mr Dowds had been a fit man for his age, had no acute natural disease and had died of multiple injuries as a result of the accident.
Sheriff Evans said at the end of the evidence that he would issue a formal verdict in due course.
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