M5 Fog/Fireworks Night Inquests
April 2014Richard Matthews KC appeared for Taunton Rugby Football Club which had hosted a public fireworks display on the 4th November 2011 on its ground, with an independent firework operator launching the display some 250+m from the M5 motorway; thick fog formed on the motorway that night and seven fatalities occurred in a large multiple vehicle collision and resultant fire. The Inquest examined the causes and possible contributions to the fog.
BBC News reported, “The inquest in April 2014 concluded the firework smoke was not to blame for causing the crash, but the coroner said he could not rule out the possibility that smoke and fog had mixed and reduced visibility on the motorway.”
The Coroner subsequently sent a report to the Department for Transport, the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Business Skills and Innovation.