Finding into death of June Shirley Dangerfield
Deceased
June Shirley Dangerfield
Demographics
88y, female
Date of death
2016-11-22
Finding date
2018-07-30
Cause of death
Multiple injuries (neck, chest, abdomen)
AI-generated summary
June Shirley Dangerfield, 88 years old, died from multiple injuries after a motor vehicle collision on 22 November 2016. She had been declared unfit to drive by her GP following pneumonia and sepsis in early 2016, but subsequently obtained a conditionally-licensed driver's licence after failing two occupational assessments and passing a third. On the night of her death, she was witnessed driving erratically for several minutes before colliding head-on with a tree. She told paramedics she had been driving all day looking for a petrol station and then her home. The coroner identified systemic issues with Victoria's fitness-to-drive assessment process, noting lack of feedback to GPs about assessment outcomes and the opacity of licence conditions. Key clinical lesson: GPs should have direct notification of driving assessment results and licence conditions to enable appropriate patient counselling and safety oversight.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Poor and erratic driving
- Lack of clarity regarding fitness to drive assessment outcomes
- Absence of feedback to general practitioner about driving assessment results and licence conditions
- Weather conditions including storms, heavy rain, and non-operational streetlights at time of collision
- Patient disorientation (unable to locate home or petrol station after prolonged driving)
Coroner's recommendations
- VicRoads and Transport for Victoria should consider a mechanism for providing feedback to reporting General Practitioners regarding driving assessment outcomes and any conditions imposed on licences
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