Shrewsbury driver's death a tragic accident
A woman who died in a car crash in Shropshire could have glanced at her phone or been avoiding an animal in the road, an inquest has heard.
Rachel Maddox, 27, of Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, died after she was struck by a wooden stake from a picket fence that smashed through her windscreen when she crashed into a tree on the B5067 Berwick Road in the town.
The inquest, at Edinburgh House in Wem yesterday, heard that she had received a text message just one minute and 40 seconds before the first emergency call was made.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner John Ellery said it "clearly was an accident" as Miss Maddox had not been using her phone.
The crash happened at Dunns Heath, at about 10.40am on February 2.
PC Nik Stafford told the inquest that neither alcohol, drugs, the condition of the car, the weather or speed was a factor.
He said at the time Miss Maddox lost control of her Seat Ibiza she was travelling at between 49 and 60mph.
There were tyre scruff marks on the straight road for 49 metres which indicated that the car had gone over the kerb, on to the verge and back again before spinning around and hitting the fence and tree.
PC David Williams, overseeing the investigation, told the inquest that police found an iPhone by the hand brake.
He said: "A text message had been received at around the time the collision had taken place. That text message would have shown up on the screen even if the message had not been opened."
Forensic analysis showed the message was received at 10.40am and two seconds. The first 999 call was made at 10.41am.
PC Stafford added: "It could be she just looked down for a second, not using her phone, or that an animal ran across the road.
"This could cause a distraction prior to losing control. While there is no evidence that the driver hit an animal, there is a lot of animal movement in the area."
Miss Maddox, who worked at Severn Trent Water, suffered chest and neck injuries.
No-one witnessed the collision.
By?Dani?Wozencroft
