Finding into death of Pamela Matthews
Deceased
PAMELA D MATTHEWS
Demographics
61y, female
Date of death
2012-01-16
Finding date
2012
Cause of death
Multiple injuries (motor vehicle impact — driver)
AI-generated summary
Pamela Matthews, aged 61, died from multiple injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision on Phillip Island Road, Surf Beach. She was stationary, indicating to turn right into a general store, when struck from behind by an inattentive driver. The impact propelled her vehicle into oncoming traffic, causing fatal injuries. The coroner found the road design at that location was insufficiently safe, with no dedicated right-turn lane and inadequate traffic separation. While the immediate cause was driver inattention, the coroner identified systemic road safety deficiencies and recommended continued collaboration between Vicroads and the local community to implement appropriate safety measures, including speed reduction and lane markings already partially implemented.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Contributing factors
- Inattention of driver of vehicle behind deceased
- Inadequate road design - no dedicated right-turn lane
- Insufficient traffic separation at intersection
- Speed limit and road markings not optimally designed for safe turning movements
Coroner's recommendations
- Vicroads continue to work with the local community at the Southern Communities Planning Group to plan for appropriate road safety measures
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —