Coroner's Finding: Smith, Lance Royal
Deceased
Lance Royal Smith
Demographics
62y, male
Date of death
2023-11-12
Finding date
2024-04-16
Cause of death
Advanced atherosclerotic and hypertensive coronary vascular disease
AI-generated summary
Lance Royal Smith, aged 62, died from advanced atherosclerotic coronary vascular disease following a motorcycle crash on 4 November 2023. He was riding an unregistered, mechanically defective Harley Davidson at high speed after consuming cannabis. He failed to negotiate a corner, crashed, and sustained multiple serious injuries including subarachnoid haemorrhage, pneumothorax, acute aortic injury, and rib and vertebral fractures. He was admitted to Royal Hobart Hospital where he initially appeared to recover over one week but died unexpectedly on 12 November 2023. The coroner found his advanced heart disease was the primary cause, but his traumatic injuries significantly contributed. Hospital care was of good standard. The death was not preventable from a medical perspective but was avoidable through appropriate vehicle use and not riding under cannabis influence.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Multiple traumatic injuries from motorcycle crash
- Subarachnomial haemorrhage
- Pneumothorax
- Acute aortic injury
- Multiple rib fractures
- Thoracic vertebral fractures
- Cannabis use prior to riding
- High speed riding on unregistered, mechanically defective motorcycle
- Possible mechanical defects of motorcycle
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