Inquest witnesses criticise dark bus stop where pensioner died

Even the driver who took Audrey Prince to the layby on the A1079 on the dark winter evening said he considered the road so dangerous to cross at that point he would not use the stop himself.

Mrs Prince, 83, died from multiple injuries when she was hit by a red Ford Galaxy while trying to cross the A1079 at Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire, at about 5.30pm on November 25 last year.

A police accident investigator said the stop was "very poorly lit" and called for safety measures to be introduced.

Sean Stephenson, driver of the East Yorkshire Motor Services X46 service between Hull and York, told an inquest into her death he was watching Mrs Prince in his mirror, hoping she would get off at an earlier stop a few hundred yards away that had a central refuge in the carriageway.

He told Hull Coroner's Court: "I was hoping she'd get off at the first bus stop because there was a little intersection, but she didn't, she got off at the one with the layby.

"I'm not saying it's safer because I don't think either of them are safe; it was the best of the two options.

"I kept checking my mirror, thinking 'please press the bell'. There was a man at the bus stop shining a torch, that's how dark it was."

Asked by Hull and East Riding Coroner Geoffrey Saul, what he was thinking when he dropped Mrs Prince off, Mr Stephenson said: "How the hell is she going to cross the road because it's pitch black, very busy with fast-moving traffic. I wouldn't cross there myself."

John Morgan, who was driving the Ford, said he saw "a shape" coming from his left and did not realise it was a person until he was between 10 and 20 yards away.

"I hit the brakes, everything, I didn't even have time to turn the steering wheel. I just hit the breaks and stopped in a straight line as fast as I could."

Mr Morgan was driving home to York after spending the day at Allerthorpe Golf Club, where he had drunk two glasses of wine with a meal.

He was breathalysed at the scene and found to be "well under" the legal limit. He had been driving within the 50mph speed limit and tests on his car showed it was well maintained and in good working order.

Mrs Prince, who used a walking stick and suffered from short-term memory loss, was returning to her home in Back Lane, Barmby Moor, after making her daily visit to see her husband Alan in a care home in Market Weighton.

Her family had asked her to use the 746 service, which stops in the village.

Daughter Sally Beynon also offered to pick her up on the day of the accident but Mrs Prince may have forgotten.

Another driver, Andrew Cox, told the court he had almost hit a woman with a walking stick trying to cross the road at about the same time the day before.

When he stopped, he said, the woman was within touching distance of his bonnet but did not seem to realise the car was there.

Mrs Prince's husband died within two weeks of the accident.

Mrs Beynon said: "I dearly miss them both, as do my family."

Mr Saul recorded a verdict of accidental death.

East Riding Council said it was planning improvements. "There is already lighting at this location," a spokeswoman said. "However, we are looking to introduce a pedestrian island which will also feature a light to increase the safety of pedestrians and improve their visibility."