Lauren Smee: Novice driver died when satnav took her into the path of oncoming traffic

  • Lauren Smee accidentally drove on to an exit slip road
  • She ended up driving into the path of 70mph traffic

By
Kerry Mcqueeney

11:27 EST, 24 May 2012

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12:09 EST, 24 May 2012


Inexperienced driver: Lauren Smee

Inexperienced driver: Lauren Smee

A novice driver was killed when she misread her satnav and drove into the path of oncoming traffic on a dual carriageway.

Inexperienced Lauren Smee collided head-on collision with a BMW after driving the wrong way down a slip road after she misunderstood the satnav’s instruction to take the first left exit on a roundabout.

Failing to spot the ‘no entry’ signs, the 21-year-old ended up driving against the traffic flow on a 70mph road, directly into the path of driver Stuart Hope-Kirk.

At an inquest into Miss Smee’s death, Mr Hope-Kirk told the coroner’s court he had ‘absolutely no time’ to react.

West Sussex Coroner’s Court was told that Miss Smee, who had only been behind the wheel for three months, had set off for a friend’s house in darkness on December 11 last year.

On her 16-mile journey she came to a roundabout near Worthing, West Sussex, where her satnav told her to take the first left turn and she drove straight into the path of oncoming traffic.

West Sussex Coroner’s Court was told Miss Smee’s Ford Ka collided head-on with Stuart Hope-Kirk’s convertible BMW on the 70mph road.

Miss Smee, a barmaid from nearby Chichester, died that night at Worthing Hospital while Mr Hope-Kirk suffered a broken ankle and fractured spine.

Mr Hope-Kirk, 49, from Bexhill: ‘I saw what looked like strong headlights coming towards me.

‘They were on my side of the dual carriageway. There was absolutely no time for me to react.’

After the accident PC Stuart Medlycott, from Sussex Police, used a satnav to follow the same route Lauren had taken.

Wrong turn: The inquest heard how Miss Smee could have missed the no entry signs at the roundabout slip road (pictured)

Wrong turn: The inquest heard how Miss Smee could have missed the no entry signs at the roundabout slip road (pictured)

He added: ‘The device said cross the roundabout at the first exit, the first lawful exit being Titnore Lane.

‘The signage on the exit slip road is quite high so if you missed the two signs on the flyover bridge you may miss those.

‘If Lauren was unfamiliar with that junction she may have had a momentary lapse in her concentration.’

He added once Miss Smee was on the A27 she may have thought she was travelling the correct way along a single-carriageway.

The Highways Agency have since improved signage at the junction.

However Miss Smee’s mother Penny, 45, is calling for young drivers to be trained in using satnavs to stop a similar tragedy happening again.

Avoidable accident: Miss Smee's mother is calling for young drivers to be trained in using satnavs to stop a similar tragedy happening again

Avoidable accident: Miss Smee’s mother is calling for young drivers to be trained in using satnavs to stop a similar tragedy happening again

She said after the inquest: ‘She was going to pick her friend up but did not know where she was going.

‘She heard the voice of the satnav and took it literally. She was a very inexperienced driver.

‘Satnavs are a help to youngsters on the road who don’t know where they are going but young drivers have so much to think about.

‘If they are following the sat-nav they can’t always be aware of the road. If they sat-nav tells you to get off there you just think it’s telling you the right thing.

‘She believed she was doing the right thing and didn’t question it. I think the use of sat-navs should be included in some way in driving lessons.

‘Young people need to be taught how to use them safely. Maybe it would stop a tragedy like this happening again.’

Mrs Smee added: ‘She was such a beautiful person, inside and out.’

Miss Smee attended Chichester College before going to work at the The Bull’s Head pub in Fishbourne, West Sussex.

Coroner for West Sussex Penelope Schofield recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.

This is terribly tragic, and my heart goes out to the friends and family of this young woman. However, people should never rely on their sat nav so much for directions that they completely miss no entry signs and other major road signs. I watched a woman drive through a red light and turn the wrong way into a one-way street the other day, as she was watching her sat nav screen instead of the road. Sadly, as more and more people become completly reliant on technology to direct them instead of watching the road tragic accidents like this are going to become more and more common.

So sad. I do think sat nav’s are a big distraction to drivers and won’t ever have one myself.

How absolutely heartbreaking for all concerned , sincere condolences to her family and friends xxx

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