I could not avoid woman in road, driver tells inquest
A elderly Kidderminster woman may have been allowed to cross a busy dual carriageway by a driver before being struck and killed by an oncoming car in the outside lane, an inquest heard.
Yvonne Whelan was hit by a red Audi A3 as she crossed the A442 Worcester Road in the town with her husband while pushing a shopping trolley.
Driver Andrew Payne braked sharply but was unable to avoid hitting the 71-year-old, an inquest heard.
He told the hearing at Stourport Coroner's Court that Mrs Whelan suddenly emerged in front of his car and that he did not have time to stop.
The pensioner and her husband had already crossed in front of a green people-carrier in the left hand lane and reached the middle of the road. It is not known whether they were allowed to cross by the driver of the green vehicle, who was never identified, or if they walked out into the road.
Mr Payne said: "As I moved from lane one to lane two to overtake it appeared as though this people-carrier had no brake lights on so there was no means of me knowing or anything to be wary of. As soon as I was in position in the (outside lane), that's when I first noticed Mrs Whelan – I saw the shopping trolley. I hit the brakes, there was nothing else I could do."
Mrs Whelan, who lived nearby in Cobham Road, Kidderminster, suffered severe head and chest injuries on July 29 last year and was airlifted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she died four days later.
Worcestershire assistant coroner David Reid recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.
