Blackburn driver died after hitting wall in fog (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn driver died after hitting wall in fog

5:00pm Thursday 4th October 2012 in News By Chris Gee, Reporter

A MOTORIST died after driving over a roundabout at speed before crashing into a stone wall, an inquest heard.

Shabana Alsam, 28, of Hope Street, Blackburn, was driving the silver Honda Civic along the A682, Bury Road towards Rawtenstall in thick fog.

She was not wearing a seatbelt and the driver airbag did not deploy during the smash.

A hearing at Burnley Magistrates’ Court heard Miss Alsam was travelling home from Bradford with her 21-year-old niece when she is believed to have taken a wrong turning from the M65.

Witness Sarah Thompson said she was driving on the A682 at around 6pm on Sunday, February 12, when the accident happened. She said it was damp and ‘visibility was very poor’.

The Honda overtook her on the approach to the roundabout near New Hall Hey business park before she saw the car lurch to the side before disappearing over the roundabout, coming to rest on the opposite side.

Police accident investigator Phillip Walker, who was called to the scene, described encountering ‘several areas of dense fog which caused me to slow to walking pace’ while travelling to the area. He said there were two large illuminated signs, rumble strips and a kink in the road on the approach to the roundabout to warn drivers to slow down.

He said his investigations concluded that the Honda had struck the roundabout at an angle before becoming airborne and crashing into the wall.

He said analysis of tyre marks had calculated the speed of the car on first impact as 45 mph and tests showed neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt.

PC Walker said: “By the time the car got to the roundabout it would have been out of control.

“In my opinion at that speed it would be impossible to negotiate.”

A pathologist’s report gave the cause of death as multiple severe injuries.

Miss Alsam’s niece sustained head, arm and leg injuries but later recovered.

Recording a narrative verdict, Burnley coroner Richard Taylor said Miss Aslam was on an unfamiliar road in difficult conditions and was likely to have been unaware of the roundabout when she lost control of the car.