Too much satnav could kill you
2012-10-19 10:51
BAD DIRECTIONS LEAD TO DEATH: 17-year-old Laura-Louise Salford died in an accident that is said to have been caused by her concentrating too hard on her TomTom satnav device.
LONDON, England - An inquest into the accident that killed Laura-Louise Salford, 17, has claimed the cause of the accident might have been the teenagers’ TomTom satnav.
The Daily Mail reported that Salford may have been concentrating too much on her new satnav, which gave no warning of the upcoming crossroads where the collision happened.
BEACH DAY TURNS UGLY
Salford, driving a Toyota Aygo bought for her by her parents, was on her way to the beach with some friends. On their way home the satnav device failed to indicate a crossroads ahead so she assumed she right-of-way and drove straight across and into the path of a van, which killed her instantly.
Glen Simpson, the van's driver, said: "Out of the corner of my eye I saw something black. There was nowhere I could go, I collided straight into the side of the car."
According to the Daily Mail, driving conditions were good and there was no evidence either vehicle was breaking the speed limit. Ian Clark, an accident investigator, followed the route taken by Salford using the same satnav and concluded the student’s over-reliance on the device may have been a factor.
NO INDICATION
"The road signs are there, they are clearly visible. Why they weren’t seen or observed is not possible to comment on," he tesified. “The satnav they were using is telling you the next place where you are required to make an adjustment is further on. If you are travelling and the road is straight on at a crossroads, a satnav will give you no indication.
“I think unwittingly she followed the satnav religiously and it lulled her into a false sense of the belief they had right of way at this junction.”
Salford’s friends, Anna Johnson and Kimberley Wright, were injured in the accident. Johnson said she was knocked out by the impact: “I remember waking up and seeing Laura’s face. She didn’t speak, she wasn’t moving.”
Rosemary Baxter, an assistant deputy coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying it was impossible to say why Laura had not stopped at the crossroads.
TomTom refused to comment.
