What could have saved young man from fatal car crash: Coroner’s heartbreaking revelation

A coroner says it’s very likely a young man would have survived the car crash that claimed his life if he had done one simple thing.

A dog and an undone seatbelt contributed to one young man’s untimely death just weeks before Christmas.

Ethan Phillip Chugg was only 21 when a car crash claimed his life in Burnie on December 3, 2020.

Coroner Olivia McTaggart released her coronial findings on Friday into the death of the diamond driller, who had returned to Tasmania to live after his fly-in, fly-out work was disrupted by Covid-19.

Mr Chugg had met his friend and uncle at the Wharf Hotel in Wynyard on the night of December 2.

The trio left the hotel close to midnight in the uncle’s Hyundai hatchback.

The Inquest heard they were heading south along Calder Rd when the uncle swerved to the left on a right-hand curve as the passenger side tyres left the sealed road.

Ethan Phillip Chugg, who tragically passed away after a car crash in Burnie. Picture: Facebook.

“The vehicle then entered a yaw as a result of the sudden swerve before re-entering the road and hitting a lip which caused it to become airborne for a short distance,” the coroner said.

“It then skidded across a grass verge, hit a fence and rolled before coming to final rest upside down in a grass culvert-type drain.”

The only one not wearing his seatbelt, Mr Chugg was flung from the car. He died during the early hours of the morning at the North West Regional Hospital.

His friend and uncle sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Ms McTaggart said Mr Chugg’s uncle had swerved to avoid hitting a dog on the road.

He had consumed a high volume of alcohol, but police found alcohol did not contribute to the crash or the uncle’s reaction time.

“An operational seatbelt belt was available for Ethan to wear, but he did not do so,” Ms McTaggart said.

“It is most likely that Ethan would have survived if he had been wearing his seat belt.”

Ms McTaggart described Mr Chugg as “fit and healthy, law-abiding” and a lover of the outdoors.

He is survived by his twin brother.