Seat belt may have saved pregnant Sophie Williams in crash

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-33565607

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A heavily-pregnant woman who died in a car crash might have survived if she had worn a seat belt, an inquest heard.

Sophie Williams, 20, had her feet on the dashboard to make herself more comfortable when the car her fiancé Ben Morgan was driving crashed near Ebbw Vale in 2014.

The Newport inquest heard her unborn baby Kayleigh also died.

Recording a narrative conclusion, the coroner said it was "possible" a seat belt could have saved her life.

The inquest heard the couple were returning from a Valentine's Day meal when strong mountain winds blew an oncoming car into Mr Morgan's Peugeot on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road.

Ms Williams, from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, suffered two broken legs and head injuries.

'Entirely possible'

Surgeons at Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, performed an emergency caesarean, but were unable to save her daughter. Ms Williams died shortly after.

Deputy coroner for Gwent, Wendy James, concluded the deaths had been the result of a road traffic collision.

"Sophie was not wearing her seatbelt at the time," she said.

"Had she been sat in the normal position it is entirely possible any injuries she had sustained may not have been fatal."