Crash mum "may have been looking at a text"

YOUNG mum Louise Davies was probably looking at a text on her mobile phone when she lost control of her car and crashed into a bus, an inquest heard.

The rear tyres of Louise's Vauxhall car were both seriously under-inflated and that may have contributed to the fatal crash in the Forest of Dean, Glos.

Her 20 month old son Callum was in the car at the time of the crash but recovered from facial injuries, the inquest in Cheltenham was told.

Recording an accidental death verdict on 21 year old Louise, of Cedar Dean, Cinderford, Glos, the deputy Gloucestershire coroner David Dooley said she was not an experienced driver by reason of her age and had received a text message as she drove down the hill.

"The under-inflated rear tyres cannot have helped her attempt to move the car away from the kerb or the bus," Mr Dooley said.

"I believe a link has been established between her deliberate actions and her death because she appears to have opened the text message at the time."

Witnesses described her car as coming down the hill already out of control, snaking and then sliding before hitting the bus sideways on.

Louise, who worked with vulnerable adults for the Orchard Trust, was described at the time of her death as a wonderful mother, kind, generous and one of the most caring people anyone could wish to meet.

Her death was the second tragedy to strike her family in five years.

In 2006, her 23-year-old brother Gareth was killed when he was hit by a car whilst working as a binman near Redmarley, Glos.

Vyrna Weaver, a nurse who tried to help after the accident, told the inquest that she saw Louise's silver Astra go sideways across the road from right to left.

She went to try and help after the impact and saw the bus embedded in the near ide of the car.

"The driver had a seatbelt on but she was not breathing. I saw a mobile in the driver's side footwell.

"I don't think the bus driver could have done anything to avoid the accident," she added.

Vehicle examiner Peter Davies checked the Astra after the accident and found that both rear tyres were more than 30 per cent under inflated.

"This would seriously affect stability and could cause the rear end of the car to slide," he said.

Pc Peter Loveridge said he examined the mobile phone found on the floor of the car.

"At about the time of the accident - 11.40am - there was a text message in the inbox and it had been opened," he said.

The Stagecoach bus driver, Kevin Marshall, who regularly drove that route said "It had been raining and the roads were wet. As I was going up Littledean Hill I came up behind a cyclist and the road was clear so I pulled out to pass.

"The bus crossed slightly over the white line but there was enough room for a vehicle coming in the other direction to get through.

"I passed the cyclist and started to pull back in when I saw a car coming towards me. It braked and I saw a puff of tyre smoke.

"It started to snake and then slid across the road and hit the bus. I thought it was going too fast for the conditions and the hill.

"The front of the car slid and then the back end came round so that it hit the bus with its nearside."

The cyclist, David Langley, was on holiday and had not intended to travel on the main road but took a wrong turning.

"I kept close in to the left because I wanted to keep out of people's way," he said. "I heard the bus coming up behind me and as it came alongside I saw the Astra coming around the corner sliding and out of control.

"It was coming straight towards me and the bus effectively blocked my view of the impact."

He felt the car may have been going too fast for the conditions and felt the bus had not been driven dangerously.

Accident investigator Pc Malcolm Shute said he thought as the Astra negotiated the bend coming down the hill its front nearside wheel hit the kerb.

"The driver reacted by steering away and the car started to rotate,"

he said. "A text message on the driver's mobile was shown as read close to the time of the collision and the phone was found in the driver's footwell.

"People are four times more likely to be involved in an accident when using a mobile.

"The logical explanation is that the driver was distracted by using the phone while negotiating the bend and over reacted when approaching the bus because the nearside tyre hit the kerb. She steered away from the kerb and this took her onto the opposite carriageway."