Seat-belt warning after baby on mother's lap is catapulted 150ft through car windscreen at 80mph

Eighteen-month- old Angel Nguyen had been strapped into a child seat until moments before the accident at 80mph on the M4.

But just after her mother took the child out to feed her, an under-inflated tyre blew.

Angel's father lost control of the car which mounted a grass bank before somersaulting back on to the carriageway and ending up on its roof.

Tragic: Angel Nguyen died when she was thrown 150ft through the windscreen of a car after her mother took her out of her baby seat on a motorway

Angel was on her mother's lap in the back and sharing her seatbelt, but the impact wrenched the girl free and she was flung through the windscreen. She was found 150ft away with severe head injuries and died in hospital.

Her father Michael, mother Hau and six-month-old brother Henry, who were still strapped in, were all unhurt.

Avon deputy coroner Brian Whitehouse said Angel's death underlined to parents the need not just to comply with the law on child seats but to ensure they are used at all times while driving.

The crash happened near Swindon as Mr Nguyen, 36, a beauty therapist, and his 28-year-old wife were driving with their children from their home in Haringey, North London, to Bristol to view business properties.

Mrs Nguyen told the inquest at Flax Bourton Coroner's Court, near Bristol, how she took Angel out of her seat alongside her because she was crying.

She tucked her under her seatbelt to give her a cuddle and feed her a bottle of milk, but shortly afterwards the rear tyre blew and Angel was catapulted through the windscreen.

Cars screeched to a halt to avoid her and two passing doctors battled to save her life. But Angel died at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol several hours later.

A police report into last October's crash stated that the mother's seatbelt would not have snapped securely around her body in the crash, leaving enough space for Angel to be thrown forward.

It added that had she been securely fastened in a child seat she would not have been ejected from the car and fatally injured.

Mr Whitehouse recorded an accident verdict and said the tragedy should be a warning to all parents.

'This was a tragic accident which was initially caused by the deficient rear tyre,' he added.

'I feel compelled to say that no blame can be attributed to the parents, but baby Angel definitely would have been safer in a proper car seat rather than on her mother's lap.

'This incident should act as a warning to everybody who is travelling in a car that they should make sure children are secure.'

Afterwards, Mr Nguyen  -  who, like his wife, is originally from Vietnam  -  said the couple's lives had been 'destroyed' by their daughter's death.

Fighting back tears, he said: 'Angel was such a beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her, and it's heartbreaking she died so young.

'I wish I could go back in time and not driven that day or I wish I had made sure that Angel had been in the car seat properly. It is a terrible loss which has changed our lives. I can no longer see the world clearly and every day is a blur with grief.'

No one was prosecuted over the tragedy.

Drivers are legally required to use the correct type of restraint for their child's age until they reach either the age of 12 or a height of 1.35metres (about 4ft 5in).

Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: 'If parents do need to attend to a child, they should wait until they can get to a safe place.'