A WOMAN has spoken of the terrifying moment her elderly mother blanked out behind the wheel causing a car crash that claimed her father’s life.

Annette Andrews told an inquest 88-year-old Grace Kerley appeared flopped in her seat as her Nissan Micra raced down Stone Lane in Wimborne on August 24 last year before it crashed into a verge, flipped 180 degrees onto its roof and came to rest on its wheels. The inquest at Bournemouth Coroners’ Court heard that 90-year-old John Kerley, of Selkirk Close, Merley, suffered a broken spine in the accident and was taken to Poole Hospital for treatment.

He was moved to Southampton Hospital three days later but died on arrival from bronchial pneumonia as a result of immobility following the accident.

Recalling the accident, Mrs Andrews said the car was revving as it quickly travelled down the hill.

“I shouted ‘Mum are you alright?’ but there was just nothing.

“I tried clicking in front of her to bring her out of it. At that point I think we hit a kerb and the car flipped but there was no response from her at all. There was nothing.

“The car just seemed to be revving and racing down the hill. It was very quick.”

In a statement, witness Serena Unsworth described seeing the Nissan Micra “racing” down Stone Lane.

“I then saw the nearside front tyres mount the verge, go up the bank, flip over 180 degrees and land on its bonnet.”

She said the car first bounced on its roof and then landed on its wheels.

“It happened in slow motion as if it were a car stunt in a film.”

Another motorist Marc Mizen described seeing the car going “too fast” and “out of control” and said the driver had a “blank expression” on her face.

Mrs Andrews, who suffered five fractures to her spine, said her mother had borderline type-two diabetes and had suffered a heart attack many years previously but had been “quite well” at the time of the accident.

Mrs Kerley suffered physical effects from the accidents and her health was described as “not very good” by her daughter.

A post mortem examination was carried out by Dr Katherine Boyd who reported Mr Kerley died as a result of bronchial pneumonia due to immobility due to a broken spine.

PC John Hayward, a collision investigator from Dorset Police, said statements from the occupants of the car and witnesses suggested that Mrs Kerley had failed to respond to physical stimuli suggesting she may have lapsed into a state of sleep or unconsciousness.

The inquest heard that there were no defects found on the car and since the accident Mrs Kerley has handed in her driving licence.

Coroner Sheriff Payne ruled Mr Kerley died as a result of a road accident.