Angela Carney

I am M D FLEMING, HM Senior Coroner for the coroner area of West Yorkshire Western Coroner Area

On 04/10/2024  I opened an inquest into the death of Angela Stacey Carney who, at the date of her death was 65 years old. The inquest was resumed and concluded upon 07/01/2025. I found the cause of death to be:- 1a. Chest injuries The conclusion of the inquest was Road Traffic Collision. With a finding in box 3 that: On 26/09/2023 Angela Stacey Carney sustained fatal injuries after she emerged at speed on her mobility scooter from Westcliffe Road junction and into the path of a vehicle being driven along Westgate.  It is found more likely than not that she inadvertently placed her scooter into freewheel drive and this prevented her from braking or taking evasive action.

On the afternoon of 26/09/2023, Angela left her home address on her 2005 model Monarch Compact special edition, 4 wheel, single seater mobility scooter.   Before setting off she moved her scooter out of her front garden and onto the footpath on Westcliffe Road by activating the free wheel mode via a lever near the rear wheel. Westcliffe Road has a 4.7% downward gradient on the southerly approach to a give way junction with Westgate.  Angela, contrary to the instruction manual did not take the scooter off the free wheel drive by engaging the engine with her ignition key.  As a consequence, she was unable to stop the scooter because the brakes could only be activated by engine engagement.  This resulted in the scooter proceeding down the footpath of Westcliffe Road at speed towards the junction with Westgate and directly into the path of a Nissan Navana pickup, resulting in her suffering severe injuries to which she sadly succumbed notwithstanding treatment at the hospital and died. It was found that the circumstance of the collision was such that it prevented the driver of the Nissan from taking evasive action. At the inquest it was noted that Angela had previously purchased the scooter second hand from her neighbour and that it was not manufactured with a secondary (independent) braking mechanism.  The scooter was found to be roadworthy and without any defects to have contributed to the collision and if the instruction manual had been followed, the scooter it could have been used safely. That said I was concerned to find that there was no fail-safe breaking mechanism on the scooter to enable an emergency stop to take place in the event of the inadvertence of the rider.

Although it is my understanding that more recently designed and manufactured mobility scooters are manufactured with a secondary breaking system by way of a fitted hand brake mechanism, I am concerned that other manufacturers may be producing scooters without such an independent breaking mechanism. I also have a concern that there may be many other older second hand models on the second hand market that are being used, which all combined has worrying safety implications for the rider’s and members of the public. The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows: (brief summary of matters of concern) ·      To review the adequacy of the existing guidelines and regulations and to consider the appropriateness of fitting secondary breaking systems by way of a fitted hand brake mechanism to all mobility scooters.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe the Department for Transport and Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have the power to take such action.