Kyle Simmons’ Mum: ‘Our world has been turned upside down’

An inquest into the death of 20-year-old Kyle Simmons found that the father of two from Limavady was killed when he lost control of his car and crashed into a lorry after overtaking another car on the Broad Road last year.

His mother, Diane, spoke to the Sentinel this week about the devastating consequences of taking unnecessary risks when driving.

She also expressed frustration with the Coroner’s office about some of the details that were made public during the Inquest.

“I was actually very angry about some of the things that came out from the Inquest”, Diane said.

The inquest found that there were traces of drugs in his body at the time of his death, although pathologist Dr James Linus said that substances can stay in the body for days.

Diane said: “It was all fact but it was upsetting that it was made public like that. I was proud of the ones there that were sticking up for Kyle and saying that, looking at the scientific evidence, there was nothing to impair his driving. It was just an unfortunate accident.

“We loved Kyle - we idolised him. I got the feeling there was a sort of an implication with them bringing that up whenever there was nothing to impair his driving at all.”

After Kyle’s tragic death, the Simmons family organised a family fun day in his honour on what would have been his 21st birthday. Funds raised from the fun day on May 17 last year were donated to a road safety charity and a cancer charity.

Diane stressed the importance of the road safety message after Kyle’s Inquest.

“I think the main thing I would like to say is to warn people about overtaking and to get the message across about road safety,” she said. “It is not worth the risk of trying to overtake. It is a blink-of-an-eye thing. Our lives have been turned upside down - it just changes everything. It is not just one life - it is everyone. My world has been turned upside down, he has two daughters, he has his sisters and all our lives have been turned upside down.”