Coroner's Finding: Bell Mary and David
Deceased
Mary Amelia Bell and David Lewis Bell
Demographics
unknown
Date of death
2020-08-29
Finding date
2023-03-06
Cause of death
Head injury sustained in motor vehicle crash
AI-generated summary
Mary Amelia Bell (81) and David Lewis Bell (82) died in a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Bridgenorth Road and Long Plains Road, Tasmania on 29 August 2020. Both sustained fatal head injuries. Mr Bell was driving the Corolla south on Long Plains Road and failed to observe give way signs, driving through the intersection without slowing or stopping. He appeared to believe Stokes Lane was a continuation of Long Plains Road rather than recognising the need to yield to traffic on Bridgenorth Road. Mr Barker in the Hilux, travelling at approximately 70 km/h, had insufficient time to avoid the collision due to sight line restrictions from trees and Mr Bell's failure to decelerate. Vehicle mechanical inspection revealed no defects. Neither driver was impaired. The crash resulted from Mr Bell's inattention and failure to perceive warning signs at the intersection. Subsequent safety improvements including signage upgrades, rumble strips, vegetation clearing, and planned intersection realignment were implemented to prevent recurrence.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Driver inattention
- Failure to observe give way signs
- Failure to perceive intersection warning signs
- Sight line obstruction from trees at intersection
- Road geometry design allowing drivers to mistake continuation of road
Coroner's recommendations
- Forced deviation travel pathway through roadway realignment to improve intersection design
- Permanent traffic safety solutions beyond interim measures to address intersection hazards
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