Eyewitness to fatal A3 horror crash reveals “traumatic” incident as dying man says he was married

Today, police have confirmed a 57-year-old man from Hindhead died at the scene after his black Skoda Kodiaq veered off the southbound carriageway between Liphook and Bramshott Common before smashing into a tree.

The single-vehicle collision happened just before 1pm sparking a massive emergency services response with the road closed before reopening 11 hours later just before midnight. Drivers on the single-carriageway road had to wait several hours before they could be diverted away.

Lewis Biggs was making his way home to Hayling Island from London when the crash happened just ahead of him. The 38-year-old and two other men stopped their vehicles and raced to help the injured man who was pulled from his burning vehicle and placed on the side of the road.

Initially it was hoped the driver would survive with him talking and even telling those helping him he was married - before he tragically passed away.

Speaking of the moment the Skoda crashed Lewis said: “The engine caught fire, I jumped out and got an extinguisher from someone else's vehicle and put out the fire while two other guys got him out the car and onto the side of the road.

He said the man was being treated by emergency services “but unfortunately he passed away”.

He added: “It was traumatic when we realised he had passed away. It was strange because we had been interacting with him.”

The witness said around seven police cars arrived first on scene before firefighters - who carried out CPR - arrived around 20 minutes after the crash. Meanwhile the first ambulance arrived at 1.30pm - about 40 minutes after the incident. “It took a long time to get any medical help to him,” Lewis said. An air ambulance also attended but was “nowhere near” to the scene, Lewis said.

Meanwhile, drivers were forced to just wait. “They couldn’t clear the road as they had to do a proper investigation. They then turned the traffic round which had to go back up the A3 after an extortionate amount of time. I was stuck there for six and a half hours and didn’t get home until 7.30pm,” Lewis said.

People were out of their cars and supporting each other through the ordeal, with Lewis adding: “The atmosphere was ok. Everyone was helping to keep each other’s spirits up. It was quite British the way everyone pulled together.

“We knew it was just a few hours out of our day but that guy had just died and his family was going to be told the worst news.”

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is now appealing for witnesses to the accident. A spokesperson said: “We are appealing for witnesses following a fatal collision on the A3. We attended the collision, along with emergency service partners, but sadly a 57-year-old man from Hindhead was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin have been notified.

“At this time it is not believed that any other vehicles were involved. We would like to speak to anyone who witnessed this collision or the vehicle involved in the moments leading up to it.

“Anyone with information or relevant dash cam footage should call 101 quoting reference 44250432585.”