A hero husband killed by an oncoming lorry on the M60 ‘sacrificed himself to save the woman he loved’, an inquest heard.
David Lalgee, 64, selflessly turned his car into the path of the HGV so that he took the brunt of the impact – saving the life of his beloved wife Jo.
The church pastor from Tameside, Greater Manchester, made the split-second decision after the lorry suffered a tyre blowout and swerved out of control on March 20.
The HGV ‘uncontrollably swayed’ and ‘slewed’ across the motorway, near Salford, before smashing through the central reservation barrier and hitting Mr Laglee’s electric BMW, the inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard.
The grandfather-of-nine, turned his EV so that he would protect his passenger and wife Jo. In doing so, he suffered ‘catastrophic and unsurvivable’ injuries and died later in hospital.
In a heartbreaking statement released after the tragedy, his family commended his ‘incredible bravery’.
They said: ‘In his final moments, David did what he had always done – he put others before himself,’ they said.
David Lalgee (right), 64, a popular church pastor from Tameside, acted heroically to sacrifice himself and save his wife, Jo (left), before the collision on March 20 this year
The grandfather-of-nine, suffered ‘catastrophic and unsurvivable’ injuries and died later in hospital
‘With incredible bravery, he protected his wife, Jo, placing himself between her and the oncoming lorry that had crossed the central reservation. He took the full impact, sacrificing his life to save the woman he loved.’
A coroner said ‘no criminal act’ occurred ‘on the part of driving standards’. The collision in March was said to have been ‘entirely unavoidable’ due to the driver’s side tyre blowout.
Witnesses likened the sound it made to a bomb going off, the inquest into his death at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday.
The Volvo tractor unit with a full trailer was being driven by Tracy Carradice back to Morecambe from Immingham, near Lincolnshire.
No faults were found on the tyre or wheel before the collision, the inquest heard. The HGV had also passed a service the day before and police said after an investigation that ‘no evidence of pre-existing mechanical defects’ was found.
Detective Sergeant Matthew Waggett, from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said the actions of Ms Carradice were ‘in no way contributory’ to what happened.
He said the collision was the result of a ‘chain of events’ caused by the tyre’s failure and the subsequent ‘uncontrollable response’ of the HGV.
The loss of control, the detective added, was ‘irrecoverable’ and the HGV ended up in a field.
Mr Lalgee’s vehicle collided with a lorry after he swerved to save his wife from the brunt of the impact
The crash was caused by a tyre blowout and led to the HGV crashing through the central reservation
Mr Lalgee, who was born in Scunthorpe, lived with his wife Jo (left) in Mossley, Tameside, and had three children and three stepchildren
A police forensic collision investigator also found ‘nothing that could be attributed to the blowout’, like a bulge in the tyre, a nail or a ‘foreign object’, the inquest heard. As a result, it’s not known why the tyre failed.
Giving evidence Ms Carradice, an experienced HGV driver, said it was a regular route she had driven ‘everyday for eight years’.
She told of hearing a ‘big bang’ and said the wagon ‘violently dropped’ to the right. ‘I was stood on the brake and I was fighting the steering wheel trying to keep it straight,’ she said, adding that she replays the collision in her mind everyday. Ms Carradice said there was nothing she could have done or should have done differently.
Mr Lalgee, who was born in Scunthorpe, lived with his wife Jo in Mossley, Tameside, and had three children and three stepchildren. The inquest heard they were planning to move to live in Blackpool and were driving home from the town at the time.
He was a former police officer who was also a qualified nurse, and was the pastor of Church Alive, an evangelical church in Blackpool. His family described him as ‘a pillar of love and support to so many’.
In a statement at the inquest, his wife Jo said he was ‘charismatic, loving and giving’, someone she said who ‘devoted his time to others’. ‘His passing was a huge loss to many people,’ she said.
A medical cause of death was given as ‘multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a road traffic collision’.
Coroner Michael Pemberton said he had been ‘personally touched’ by the tragedy as he had travelled the same route just 20 minutes earlier and heard about the collision later.
Addressing the family after recording a conclusion that Mr Lalgee died as a result of a road traffic collision, he said: ‘This is an absolutely tragic case and the loss of David will be felt forever more. It is clear that he was a dearly-loved father, grandfather and husband who had made a major contribution to society.’
He said there was ‘no realistic explanation that can be offered in terms of why this has happened’.
‘It is entirely possible that there was something on the road that the tyre was exposed to, but that was never found,’ Mr Pemberton added.
