A Devizes man who died on his way home from work after trying to overtake two cars on the A361 may have been tired when he was driving home from work, an inquest has ruled.

Mark Osman Aziz, 57, of Parkfields died at the wheel when his Nissan Micra collided head on with a Ford van after trying to overtake a car 5 miles away from Devizes town centre in the early morning of October 29 last year, Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court in Salisbury heard on Thursday.

A market trader from Ramsbury who travels on the A361 twice a week to trade in Trowbridge and Devizes witnessed the crash unfold told the court how the visibility on the road was poor.

Terrance Brown said: “When I got to the roundabout, it was still early morning and not a lot of traffic was about. A 4x4 pulled in front of me on the roundabout and I felt comfortable sitting behind it.

“We were doing about 50mph heading towards Devizes and after about two miles I noticed a vehicle coming from behind which hadn’t been there before. I had no idea what vehicle it was, only that I had seen it in my rear mirror and that it was doing more than 50.

“I realised that he was trying to overtake me and that the car in front of me was travelling the same speed so my reaction was to brake a bit to allow him a bit of room.

“I thought he was going to pull into the space but he continued and as he tried to overtake the 4x4 I saw a vehicle on the other side of the road. I knew what was going to happen unfortunately but I hoped it wouldn’t.”

He also spoke of his shock when he heard there had not been many more accidents on that stretch of road.

The coroner also heard from Christopher Forsythe, a service engineer for Continental who was injured when his Ford van collided with the Nissan Micra on the tragic morning.

He said: “About half way along the road there is a couple of bends and after one bend, I saw two cars coming at me so I knew a collision was going to happen. The moment I saw him they were practically side by side.

“I tried to put my car as close to the inside of the road as possible, hoping there was a big enough gap for them to squeeze through but there wasn’t.”

In a police report the dampness of the road and the darkness were highlighted as potential factors in the crash although it also highlighted the lack of features in the landscape which could have led to the 57-year-old misjudging the distance between cars.

“Mr Aziz was travelling at 72mph and Mr Forsythe was travelling at 65, but the excess speeds did not appear to play a role in incident, but rather the overtaking manoeuvre did,” said Police Constable Neil Harris.

“The long views by added by the lack of features on the road have played a role as drivers had to rely on their judgement. In daylight, you can see where the road goes but in night time headlamps can appear closer or further away than they actually are.”

Although the driver of the Ford van attempted to move away from the oncoming car and attempted an emergency stop, the two vehicles collided at approximately 47mph.

Peter Hatvany, Wiltshire and Swindon Assistant Coroner concluded that Mr Aziz died from respiratory failure due to the chest injury he sustained in the crash.

He added: “Mr Aziz was the sole author in his own misfortune that night. He was probably tired that night, he was driving faster than the speed limit and he possibly misjudged the distance between him and the oncoming car.

“Clearly the cause is one of road traffic collision and no other factors played a part in his death.”

Mr Hatvany also gave his condolences to Mr Aziz’s daughters who attended the hearing.