Treacherous winter road condition contributed to fatal accident near Tetbury (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Mother-of-four died following head-on collision on the A4135 close to Beverston

12:23pm Wednesday 8th August 2012 in News

WINTRY road conditions may have been to blame for a collision which caused the death of a 43-year-old mum an inquest has heard.

Mother-of-four Jacqueline Dowding died on December 11 last year after suffering multiple injuries when her Honda Civic was involved in the collision with a Landrover Defender on the A4135 close to Beverston, near Tetbury. Mrs Dowding was rushed to Frenchay Hospital by air ambulance but died of her injuries.

Land Rover driver Robert von Hawrylak suffered serious facial injuries and a fractured back in the crash.

The Gloucester inquest heard the collision happened as Mrs Dowding, of School Road, Highfields, Dursley, was driving to work in Chippenham.

Deputy coroner David Dooley said there was a strong possibility the tragedy could have been caused by weather conditions on the road. Mrs Dowding's pet terrier Lola was in the car and could have been a distraction Mr Dooley added.

In a statement, Mr von Hawrylak, 53, said he was driving from Tetbury along the A4135 towards the Calcot crossroads at about 9.15am when he noticed a silver vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

It came diagonally across the road at him and then he had no further recollection of the incident.

At the time of the accident it was sleeting and police said visibility was bad and the road surface so slippery that warnings were sent to all emergency services attending the scene.

An investigation found that neither vehicle had been speeding at the time of the accident but Mrs Dowding's car had clipped the verge prior to the collision. She had been trying to correct the vehicle when she crashed.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.