EXCLUSIVE: Pensioner died in horror crash after mobility scooter sped down hill into road

A pensioner died in a horror road accident after her mobility scooter ran into the path of a car after she accidentally left it in 'freewheel' mode that meant she was unable to brake while travelling down a hill.

Angela Carney, 65, (above) died when a Nissan Navarra towing a 4x4 vehicle struck her after she emerged at speed into its path on a main road.

An inquest heard that she left her home and began to roll down a hill with the engine off, but did not turn on the engine, which would have engaged the brake, so she was unable to stop in October 2023.

The scooter careered over a junction into another road and into the path of the car, that was unable to miss her.

An inquest concluded she died from chest injuries as the result of a road traffic accident.

Martin Fleming, Senior Coroner for West Yorkshire Western Area, who heard the inquest which concluded on January 7, is calling for a review of guidelines and regulations around mobility scooter breaking in the wake of her tragic death.

In a prevention of future deaths report, he wrote: 'On the afternoon of 26/09/2023, Angela left her home address on her 2005 model Monarch Compact special edition, four wheel, single seater mobility scooter. 'Before setting off she moved her scooter out of her front garden and onto the footpath on Westcliffe Road by activating the free wheel mode via a lever near the rear wheel.

'Westcliffe Road has a 4.7 percent downward gradient on the southerly approach to a give way junction with Westgate.

'Angela, contrary to the instruction manual, did not take the scooter off the free wheel drive by engaging the engine with her ignition key. As a consequence, she was unable to stop the scooter because the brakes could only be activated by engine engagement.

'This resulted in the scooter proceeding down the footpath of Westcliffe Road at speed towards the junction with Westgate and directly into the path of a Nissan Navana pickup, resulting in her suffering severe injuries to which she sadly succumbed notwithstanding treatment at the hospital and died.

'It was found that the circumstance of the collision was such that it prevented the driver of the Nissan from taking evasive action.'

The inquest heard that she bought the scooter second hand from her neighbour and that it was not manufactured with a secondary (independent) braking mechanism.

The scooter was found to be roadworthy and without any defects to have contributed to the collision and if the instruction manual had been followed, the scooter could have been used safely.

Mr Fleming added: 'That said I was concerned to find that there was no fail-safe braking mechanism on the scooter to enable an emergency stop to take place in the event of the inadvertence of the rider.

'Although it is my understanding that more recently designed and manufactured mobility scooters are manufactured with a secondary braking system by way of a fitted hand brake mechanism, I am concerned that other manufacturers may be producing scooters without such an independent breaking mechanism.

'I also have a concern that there may be many other older second hand models on the second hand market that are being used, which all combined has worrying safety implications for the rider’s and members of the public.'

He is calling on the Department of Transport and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to 'review the adequacy of the existing guidelines and regulations and to consider the appropriateness of fitting secondary braking systems by way of a fitted hand brake mechanism to all mobility scooters.'

They will have 56 days to respond.

At the time of her death her family said: 'Our dear mum, also loving nana, great-nana, sister and auntie was tragically taken away from us, no words can describe the devastation this has caused.

'Angela was a kind and loving soul whose door was always open to anyone.

'She will be sadly missed by her family and everyone who knew her.'