Fatal crash that killed woman on A66 was 'inevitable' - coroner says

The fatal crash happened on the A66 north of Richmond in North Yorkshire in March 2019

A crash between a car and a lorry that left a German woman dead was "inevitable" despite the truck having defective brakes, a coroner has said.

Kerstin Hanke, 55, from Bunde in Germany, was a passenger in a VW Touran driven by her husband Thomas on the A66 in North Yorkshire on 22 March 2019.

The car and lorry collided at a junction near Ravensworth.

An inquest found that Mrs Hanke died as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision.

Mr Hanke was turning on to the A66 from New Lane when the VW Touran was hit by a Scania lorry travelling at about 38mph (61kph).

Vehicle examiner Neal King, who inspected the lorry, told North Yorkshire Coroner's Court the condition of the brakes on the Scania were "pretty much one of the worst [cases] I have seen".

He said the vehicle had braking power of about 35% but he would have expected it to be between 55% and 61%.

However, two traffic collision investigators told the inquest they believed the lorry would have struck the car even if the brakes had not been in poor condition.

The distance between the two vehicles was just 24m (79ft) before the crash.

Coroner Jonathan Leach said: "I am satisfied that the [brake] defect did not contribute to the collision, this would have occurred in any event.

"When Mr Hanke pulled out of the junction [the collision] was inevitable."

Mr Leach recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision at the inquest on Wednesday.