A MOMENTARY lapse of concentration could have caused 23-year-old Dawn Healy to lose control of her car and collide with an oncoming vehicle, an inquest into her death heard today.
Dawn was driving a Volkswagen when she veered to the left and then to the right before hitting a Citroen Picasso car driven by Tiffany May Mokler on the B1411 between Ely and Little Downham on February 25, shortly before midday.
Mrs Mokler’s car – which also contained her two young children – landed upside down in a field.
Dawn’s car was found straddled across the carriageway, with its engine and gearbox detached.
Her young daughter inside the car was uninjured. A post mortem had showed that Dawn, of Jersey Way, Littleport, suffered a fractured base of skull.
Mrs Mokler told the inquest at Wisbech Boathouse how she had driven half way around a bend when she saw Dawn’s car approaching.
“As soon as I saw the car I knew something was wrong,” she said. “The car was diagonal in the lane, on my side of the road. I knew we were going to crash, it all happened so quickly.”
Surveyor Thomas Connelly was following Dawn’s car before the accident, and saw it veer to the left and then turn violently to the right.
“It was an horrific impact, smoke and debris everywhere,” he said in a statement. Someone told him Dawn had stopped breathing.
Dawn’s mother, Sally Healy, described her daughter as “a competent driver,” who always took special care when her child was in her car. Her daughter had dropped her off for work at St John’s School in Ely before the accident.
A police vehicle examiner could find no fault in either car that could have contributed to the accident.
Collision investigator PC Tim Kirkby delivered a statement from his colleague PC Dave Halling.
He said Dawn was driving towards Little Downham when her vehicle moved into the path of the oncoming Citroen. The VW Polo had significant damage to its nearside, and the front of the Citroen had heavy front damage.
There was no fault in Mrs Mokler’s driving, he said, and Dawn had lost control while negotiating a right hand bend.
“A momentary lapse of concentration or distraction is the most likely explanation,” said PC Halling’s report.
Coroner William Morris recorded a verdict that Dawn had died as a result of a road traffic collision, and expressed condolences to her family.
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