The failure of the Assembly government to act on police advice urging improvements to the Cwmgwili junction of the A48 was a major factor in the death of local businessman Roger Bowen, a coroner has ruled.

Mr Bowen, aged 55, died when his Vauxhall Astra was hit by a police car travelling at speeds in excess of 80mph as the shop owner attempted to cross the carriageway at 9pm on March 3, 2009.

Carmarthenshire coroner John Owen ruled on Thursday that while the "immediate cause of the accident was Mr Bowen’s driving across the dual carriageway," the actions of both the police and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) also played a major role in the fatal accident.

Mr Owen said: "contributory factors were the speed of the approaching police vehicle at a location known to the police since no later than July 2004 to be dangerous and the failure of WAG to take any decisive action after 2001 to improve safety at Cwmgwili junction."

During an inquest into Mr Bowen’s death, held in June, Mr Owen heard how police traffic officer PC Keith Harding had approached the junction at speeds reaching up to 110mph while in pursuit of an unknown motorist.

According to the evidence, PC Harding had slowed his Volva D5S to between 80 and 90mph as he neared the junction where Mr Bowen and his teenage son Ashley were waiting to cross the eastbound carriageway.

As PC Harding neared the junction with blue lights flashing, Mr Bowen began to drive across the carriageway, directly into the path of the officer’s car.

"I couldn’t go anywhere," PC Harding told the earlier hearing.

Mr Bowen was killed and 17-year-old Ashley suffered serious injuries.

Mr Owen placed no blame for the accident on PC Harding, saying he was a "conscientious officer with skill and accomplishment as a police driver".

However, he was told how safety concerns at the junction had been raised with WAG, its road maintenance arm South Wales Trunk Road Agency (SWTRA) and SWTRA’s predecessor, the West Wales Trunk Road Agency (WWTRA), as early as 2001.

He also described how during a meeting between Dyfed Powys Police and WAG in 2004 regarding the Cwmgwili junction, the police officer present gave the view that "the central reserve must be closed if a roundabout was not an option" to improve safety.

Mr Owen said that while it was decided a roundabout was not possible at the site, the closing of the central reserve was made more viable in 2005 with the opening of the Cross Hands Business Park slip road.

However, no action was taken by SWTRA.

Mr Owen expressed concern that while officers had warned WAG and SWTRA of the dangers at Cwmgwili junction, no such warning has been passed on to its own drivers.

"It is easy to be critical in hindsight, but I conclude that if the concern raised by the police and evidenced in the minutes of the July 2004 meeting had by passed to police drivers it is possible that the death of Mr Bowen might have been prevented," he said.

Following Mr Bowen’s death and that of Cross Hands pensioner Colin James just six weeks later at the same spot, WAG had contacted Carmarthenshire County Council regarding plans to close the junction.

He added: "I think it is fair to conclude that if that action had been taken and the procedures set in motion following the July 2004 meeting then it is probable that the tragic death of Mr Bowen would have been prevented."

Mr Owen said he would closely monitor road improvements at Cwmgwili and also write to the Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys Police recommending that the force instruct all police drivers to "exercise extreme caution in approach such junctions at high speeds"

Mr Owen concluded: "Mr Bowen died as a result of an accident and that if precautions had been taken to avoid such an accident it is probable that he would not have died when and where he did."