WHY a pick-up driver failed to see a lorry before he crashed into it will remain a mystery, a coroner has said.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded on 25-year-old Michael Burns, who died from multiple injuries at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, following the accident on the A1, in North Yorkshire, on April 30.

A Ford Transit pick-up driven by Mr Burns, of Netherfield Crescent, Middlesbrough, crashed into the back of a wagon on the northbound carriageway of the A1, near the Middleton Quernhow junction.

An inquest in Richmond yesterday was told that Mr Burns would have had at least 25 seconds and up to half a mile in which to see the wagon as it pulled out of a layby.

Traffic Constable Paul Davenport said that neither vehicle had defects, neither was speeding and no witnesses to the accident had come forward.

Investigations showed that Mr Burns had not been drinking and had not fallen asleep at the wheel, as he had been eating a sandwich when the collision happened. He was wearing a seat belt.

Mr Burns, a driver for HSS Tool Hire, suffered minor seizures in 2001, but brain scans showed no abnormality and his family believed they were caused by stress.

There was no evidence that he had had any episodes recently.

North Yorkshire West coroner Geoff Fell said it was likely that Mr Burns had been distracted by something immediately before the crash.