Driver killed after looking for phone

| 03/09/2018 | 24 Comments

Fatal car crash 11 March 2015 (Photo courtesy Cayman 27)

(CNS): Rowena Scott (25) was looking around the car for a missing phone moments before it crashed into a concrete wall along Shamrock Road, an inquest heard on Monday. The coroner’s hearing into the death of Scott, following a single-vehicle crash in March 2015, opened before a jury, who heard her boyfriend’s statement about what happened just before the fatal collision. Jovin Fuentes explained that Scott was recovering from a recent surgery and was back behind the wheel for the first time the day she was killed. As the couple drove from George Town to Savannah Primary to pick up their children, Scott asked Fuentes to look for her phone.

He said he could not find it, and so Scott also began to look around the car. The next thing Fuentes knew the black Kia Sorrento the couple were in had smashed into the wall. He said the doors flung open and he was unable to move.

Cayman News Service

Rowena Scott

Fuentes told police at the time of the collision that while the couple had their ups and downs in the relationship, they had been getting along really well at that time. He explained that after her surgery they had stayed together at Fuentes family home, where he had been enjoying taking care of Scott, who was the mother of his two children. Scott also had twins from a previous relationship.

Fuentes said in his statement to the police about the smash that despite allegations, he and Scott were not arguing before the smash because at that time things had been really good between them. He said that there was no fight or disagreement; she was simply looking for the phone.

He said that Scott, who was a physiotherapist, had wanted to drive that day to see if she could manage it after the operation. But Fuentes said that if he had been driving, she would still be alive. Admitting that the relationship had been tumultuous at times, Fuentes, who also sustained numerous injuries in the crash, described Scott in his statement as “the love of my life”, and told the police he had cried every day since she was killed.

The inquest also heard that neither Scott nor Fuentes were wearing their seat-belts when the crash happened.

The coroner’s hearing continues this week.

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Comments (24)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    The more sensible headline would be woman who died in accident was not wearing a seatbelt.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    My sympathy goes out to her family. There are to sides to a story, unfortunately we won’t be able to hear her side.

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  3. mike says:

    What lies they were arguing as usual trust me I know how they were. Always fighting!

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Witnesses that day, although years ago now, stated the two were having a physical altercation which could be seen from behind them on the road as well as approaching.

    This story from the boyfriend about looking for a phone sounds too fishy to me. Not that it isn’t possible, but most people would have pulled over to look for it.

    People clearly stated at the time of the accident that the two individuals were arguing and physically hitting each other whilst the car was moving being driven.

    Also, if he cared so much about her, why didn’t he drive? Why didn’t he insist on being the driver?

    She’s dead, so she has no voice now. Investigate thoroughly.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Another senseless tragedy all because of bloody mobile phones…they should be completely banned in cars, locked in special compartments where you cant access them until the engine is off. My heart goes out to those poor youngsters.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Whilst I don’t disagree, I would also point out that neither occupant were wearing seatbelts. This is a tragedy and a complete waste of life, however the amount of people who don’t wear seatbelts or properly secure their children in vehicles in Cayman is absolutely disgusting.

      It is very simple:- If you crash whilst not wearing a seatbelt you are very likely to be seriously injured or die. Therefore as we’d all like to say to most politicians – JUST BELT UP!

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      • Anonymous says:

        The tourists that died in the accident in East end where all wearing seat belts and they where killed instantly, even decapitated one of them, so your point is?.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Your point is as ridiculous as someone saying smoking is safe because they know the odd smoker who lived until 100. My sister’s husband was a paramedic in the days when seat belt rules came into place (long time ago!) and he was flabbergasted by the difference they make. He said the survival rate of accidents just shot up exponentially, and witnessed many scenarios where people walked away from an accident who would normally have been ejected and killed had they not been wearing their seat belt.

          So please don’t focus on the very rare occasions when seat belts cause injury (you don’t seriously think those people in that accident would not have died had they not been wearing their seat belts???) and try to appreciate the incredible safety feature they are.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Hey idiot, the context is slightly different. The human body, can only take so much trauma, when a car is speeding toward you head on, the speeds involved rise pretty quickly. This is like comparing apples to elephants. Fool.

          Plus, it is ‘were’, not ‘where’.

          Just wear a seatbelt. If you cannot see the benefit here in Cayman, with some of the worst drivers on the planet, you’re an imbecile.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Non sequitor. Put the belt on – you at least give yourself a better chance.

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          • ABC says:

            You think the idiot who wrote the comment is going to understand “Non sequitor”. Lol. I like your comment, just think the idiot will be unable to make heads or tails of it…

        • Anonymous says:

          Because of Poachers. SAD.
          Who are the Poachers in EE selling their Conch catches to?

      • LeeM says:

        Perhaps they took it off while looking for the phone?? To turn and bend better. But yes?

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      • BrittanyScott says:

        You BOTH! Can read my reply to this in the post above, while your points are not wrong let’s not stray from the REAL facts of this case, THE REAL TRUTH! Because she was not as careless as Tom, dick, or harry may think! Not just the fake news put here. Because this statement is pure BS!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I agree a tragedy and some would agree also a senseless one , but an easy & somewhat innocent mistake to make without real understanding of the implications that a loss of awareness can result in. That could be considered the pure cause of the accident ( awareness depravation ). The phone falling down between the seats or console didn’t cause the accident, rather than a loss of awareness, in all respect and fairness that the search for the phone resulted in. I dropped my sunglasses today down in the foot well , so chose to stop and find them with the car off the road. Should we then ban all sunglasses in cars & make sure a locked safe for sunglasses is mandatory , then arrest people for sunglasses ? Some cars even have an overhead storage bin that flips down for sunglasses, my truck does , as does my wife’s Honda. On the flip side , dropping your cell phone can help you avoid a D.U.I in some circumstances.

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      • Ron Ebanks says:

        Anonymous 6:27pm , you’re completely right ,that damn old phone has taken over some people lives completely to where they can’t do and think without it that damn old phone . I wonder what some people would do if time went back to the 1960″s .

      • Jotnar says:

        To be fair, dropping the phone didn’t avoid either the DUI or the careless driving charge. Not having the arresting officer counter sign the breathalyzer reading avoided the DUI.

      • Anonymous says:

        Once you are driving a car, you are in charge of a machine not only capable of killing yourself, but others, and should be focused solely on driving carefully. Now I know that is difficult, and Lord knows there can be unexpected distractions (my last one was Sunday when lightening hit something around 100 feet away) but we all need to try a lot harder than currently occurs in Cayman and to minimize the unnecessary risks such as phones, chatting or arguing with car occupants. It is not easy, but the cost of not doing it too high, far too high.

    • Ron Ebanks says:

      My heart goes out for Ms Scott ,and my deepest regards to her family ,
      But do we see how stupid that damn old phone can be when you live with it in your hands all of the time .

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      • BrittanyScott says:

        You can refer to my comment above!!
        thank you for the regards! But, she was not looking for a phone…. that too was broken in half that day XXXXX! There is so much missing from her side!

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        • Anonymous says:

          I believe you. They had a tumultuous relationship, (this I know for sure) and I bet they were arguing/fighting that day which caused the accident.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Thanks to Brittany Scott, for speaking up for someone who no longer has a voice.

          Domestic abuse is prevalent in Cayman and people know how “bad” their relationship could be at times. It’s hard for people to resist telling lies on dead people, isn’t it>?

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    • Anonymous says:

      I agree with your take on cellphones and what people should do is get a bluetooth enabled stereo system installed in their vehicles that they can answer calls by just touching a button without being severel distracted from driving . What i have been seeing here in Cayman Islands is a blatant misuse of cellphones whilst motoring and its gonna get worse until people do what needs to be done SAFETY WISE. Police need to crackdown more on this issue and its a $150 fine if you are caught using cellphone while driving. GENERAL PUBLIC IF YOU AREN”T AWARE. and you are jeapordizing your safety and other road users as well. BE SMART

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