Teen bled to death after crashing e-scooter, inquest hears

Teen who has just celebrated his 18th birthday bled to death after crashing e-scooter into parked people carrier while his girlfriend rode pillion, inquest hears

• Mason Pitt had hired the e-scooter from Slough Borough Council last June
• The council experiment meant it was legal to ride the device on public roads 

A teen who had just celebrated his 18th birthday bled to death after he crashed an e-scooter into a parked people carrier and cut his jugular vein, an inquest heard.

Mason Pitt had hired a Neuron e-scooter from Slough Borough Council last June as part of a nationwide trial over e-scooters on public roads. The council experiment meant it was legal to ride the device on the public highway. 

He had been riding through the council with his girlfriend Kasey Miller on the back when he turned around to see where his friends had gone and swerved into a parked people carrier. 

Mr Pitt died at Wexham Park Hospital following the incident. A post-mortem examination later revealed that a piece of glass had cut the jugular vein in his neck.

The inquest was told that the teen broke two rules associated with the scooter scheme including not  wearing a helmet and riding the scooter after drinking. 

A toxicology report found that he only had 61mcg of alcohol in his blood, below the legal drink-drive limit of 80mcg.

Mason Pitt had been riding through the council with his girlfriend Kasey Miller on the back when he turned around to see where his friends had gone and swerved into a parked people carrier. Mr Pitt and Ms Miller are pictured together

Mr Pitt had hired a Neuron e-scooter (stock photo) from Slough Borough Council last June as part of a nationwide trial over e-scooters on public roads. The council experiment meant it was legal to ride the device on the public highway

Mr Pitt died on June 11, 2022 after crashing the e-scooter into the people carrier. The rear windscreen shattered and he fell backwards onto Ms Miller, who thought he had ‘popped his nose’ because of the amount of blood.

The hearing was told that she ran back to her parents’ home on the same road to get help and dialled 999 while his friends, only seconds behind, held a jumper around his neck in desperate attempts to stem the bleeding and save his life.

Three separate calls were made to 999 about Mr Pitt in the early hours of June 11 last year – one at 0255am, another at 0303am and the third at 0305am. It took paramedics 29 minutes to arrive on the scene from the first call.

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According to 999 bosses, there had been 38 other equally serious incidents going on at the time of Mr Pitt’s crash.

The statement from the ambulance service said that it had been under extreme pressure and Wexham Park Hospital in Slough was also full, which meant ambulances were queueing outside with unwell patients aboard. 

As the friends waited for paramedics, police officers raced to the scene to help Mr Pitt – who was bleeding from a four-inch cut on his neck and a serious head injury. 

Doctors at Wexham Park Hospital took over his care at just before 4am and gave him CPR for 20 minutes, but he could not be saved. 

Assistant Berkshire coroner Alison McCormick heard details about the events leading up to his death and how Mr Pitt had been drinking with his friends.

Ms Miller said he had been ‘tipsy but not drunk’ and a toxicology report showed he was under the legal drink-drive limit.

Other evidence detailed how the e-scooters had clear instructions not to be used after drinking alcohol, only to ride with one person on it and not to ride without a helmet. 

‘In his riding of the e-scooter, Mason broke three of the rules,’ Ms McCormick said. ‘Mason was driving the e-scooter with two people on board and was in clear contravention of the rules designed to keep people safe.

‘In terms of what caused the collision, he looked back over his shoulder and then swerved into the parked Mercedes people carrier. The car was parked on double yellow lines in the wrong direction in contravention of the road traffic regulations but it was stationary and on a well-illuminated road. It was there to be seen.’

Mr Pitt (pictured) died at Wexham Park Hospital following the incident. A post-mortem examination later revealed that a piece of glass had cut the jugular vein in his neck

The coroner shared how Mr Pitt’s step-father had told her it was a ‘freak accident and nothing could have been predicted’.

She added: ‘It’s so unlikely to be cut at such a critical point in his vein in that regard. I agree with his view.

‘Although the ambulance did not arrive in the 18 minutes it is supposed to by national guidelines, it was dispatched in 20 minutes and arrived in 29 minutes. All emergency personnel and hospital staff did the best they could to save Mason.

‘Nothing in the ambulance response contributed to his death.’

In a penned portrait of Mr Pitt from his stepfather, he said: ‘There are so many positive things that can be said about Mason and we can honestly say, there was nothing negative. He has left a hole in our lives that can not be filled.’

Ms McCormick recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.

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