Warning as sat nav steers teenage driver to her death

Laura-Louise Salford, 17, who was enjoying a “road trip” with two friends the day after finishing exams, suffered fatal injuries in the accident, just weeks after passing her driving test.

She had told her parents she was going swimming with friends in Rotherham, when in fact they went out for the day, first to The Deep aquarium in Hull and then onto Bridlington.

An inquest in Hull heard Laura was using a TomTom sat-nav for the first time, which had taken her on a “convoluted” route from the resort back through Beverley and across the Westwood.

But it didn’t warn her of the approaching crossroads close to Walkington, near Beverley, where the minor road she was on crossed a main road.

Glen Simpson, who was driving his works van at a speed of around 45mph to 50mph, told the inquest he didn’t have time to brake: “Out of the corner of my eye I saw something black, I didn’t see the type of vehicle. There was nowhere I could go, I collided straight into the side of the car.”

Laura’s friends Anna Johnson and Kimberley Wright were both injured in the crash on May 31.

During his investigation, collision investigator Ian Clark followed the route taken by the girls using the same sat-nav that was in the Wingfield College student’s car. He told the inquest the teenager may have been “over reliant” on her sat-nav and it may have “unwittingly been a significant factor”.

“The road signs are there,” he said. “They are clearly visible and were there to be seen by any driver. Why they weren’t seen or observed is not possible to comment. The sat-nav system they were using at this particular crossroads is telling you the next place where you are required to make an adjustment is a quarter of a mile further on.

“It is common to all sat-nav devices I have examined; if you are travelling and the road is straight on at a crossroads, sat-nav will give you no indication – it expects you to follow the rules of the road.

“I think unwittingly she followed the sat-nav religiously... and it lulled them into a false sense of the belief they had right of way at this junction.”

Laura, of Church Street, Greasbrough, near Rotherham, had been bought a Toyota Aygo by her parents after passing her driving test first time in April.

Her father took her out four nights in a row to get her used to the car, but they hadn’t been keen on her going too far after she had a minor bump.

In a statement her mother Lorraine said: “She wouldn’t have wanted to worry us. We’d had a long conversation after the bump in Sheffield and told her not to go too far before she was more experienced.”

Anna Johnson said her friend was a “really careful” driver and, when one of the windscreen wipers blew off as they drove into Hull, they stopped off to get it repaired. They had had a nice day and ate fish and chips prior to setting off for home.

In a statement, she said: “We thought we must have gone the wrong way, there were cows walking about and they appeared to be loose. Kim was laughing at the cows. Laura was driving very carefully. We were both wide awake... I don’t remember the sat-nav beeping, I don’t remember give way signs.

“I remember waking up and seeing Laura’s face. She didn’t speak, she wasn’t moving.”

Assistant deputy coroner Rosemary Baxter recorded a verdict of accidental death.

She said the reason why Laura failed to stop at the signs could only be a matter of speculation. “Laura was an inexperienced driver and was unfamiliar with the route along which she was travelling and the driver of the second vehicle had little or no time to react.”

No-one was available to comment from TomTom.

A Walkington resident said: “It is a dangerous staggered junction and the village has wanted something done about it for years.”

Ellen Booth, senior campaigns officer for road safety charity Brake, said: “It is absolutely vital that drivers give their full concentration to the road ahead, and never blindly follow a sat-nav.”