Driver dies in burning trucl
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• by Pete Sytkigler A truck driver died when he was trapped in his blazing cab after it struck a broken-down truck, an inquest was told.
Stephen Whyte, a freelance driver from Quarry Bank, near Dudley, drove his 16tonne Scania into the rear of another truck which had pulled over on the A38 near Kilburn, Derbyshire last June.
Whyte had been driving towards the M1 while on a contract job, the Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner's court was told.
Rowan Tombs of Swadhncote, who saw the accident, said: "The lorry didn't change course, slow down or give any indication as it approached the parked truck. It just drove straight into the back of the lorry.
"I left my vehicle and climbed up to look in the cab of the lorry but could not see anyone," he added. "When I looked again I heard what sounded like a whoosh. Then I saw flames start to spread, and as the fire took hold of the cab an off-duty paramedic pulled me away."
Fire spread through the vehicle. A post mortem examination confirmed that Whyte, a father of two who was separated from his wife, died from asphyxiation caused by inhaling smoke and fumes.
The other driver, Kevin Chivers of Westbury, Wiltshire, said he had parked his lorry with a tyre defect. "I was on the phone to my boss tryini find a 24-hour tyre service when I felt shunt as the vehicle struck the back of lorry," he said.
PC Richard Bell of Derbyshire Pol said: "There appears to have been attempt to move out of the way of parked lorry."
Recording a verdict of accide death, assistant deputy coroner Ro Patten, said: "For some reason Mr Wt did not move out or take action to avoid other vehicle.
"It was a severe crash and it seems Ii! Whyte would have been unconscious bet the vehicle became alight," he concluc