Coroner upset by sisters' tragedy

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Two teenage sisters died after their car swerved and crashed through a fence on a dual carriageway near Merthyr, an inquest was told.

Kristy Moseley, 18, and Jodie, 16, of nearby Pontlottyn, were killed on the A4060 in November 2005.

Coroner Philip Walters was told contact with a roadside "rumble strip" may have forced driver Kristy to swerve.

Mr Walters, recording accidental death verdicts, said it was one of the most upsetting cases he had come across.

The court heard the sisters died from "head injuries and multiple fractures" after their Ford Fiesta crashed at around 1655 GMT on 12 November, 2005.

Several witnesses said they did not see the car driving erratically before it suddenly swerved across the carriageway and crashed though the fence.

There is no evidence that this vehicle was being driven in anything other than a normal manner. Coroner Philip Walters

The car eventually came to rest in a draining ditch with the two sisters fatally injured after being struck by part of the fence.

Driver Simon Lloyd, who was returning to Nelson from a rugby match in Abergavenny, said the car "suddenly swerved out before coming back towards the fence".

He added:" I remember there were no brake lights, it seemed strange."

Investigating officer PC Philip Painting said it appeared the sisters' car was travelling well under the 70mph speed limit.

But he said tyre marks on the road indicated it was likely contact with the roadside rumble strip had caused a "sudden steering input causing the vehicle to veer" before it span off the road.

'Stick with you'

He added:"To a young or inexperienced driver encountering the rumble strips, the vibrations can be alarming,"

A report by pathologist Sam Kibereu who carried out the post mortem examinations at Prince Charles Hospital said the two sisters had suffered "identical injuries".

He said in his report:"Both were struck by a section of the stockade".

Returning two verdicts of accidental death, the coroner Mr Walters said he had worked in the coroner's service for 30 years but "there are events that will stick with you and this is one of those".

Calling the death of the sisters a "horrific accident" he said: "Much criticism has been made of young drivers, much of it justified.

"But there is no evidence that this vehicle was being driven in anything other than a normal manner.

"The most likely cause is that having struck the rumble strip there has been an element of over steering - it could happen to all of us."