The driver of an automatic car which crashed into the front of a property in Marks Tey probably pressed the accelerator by mistake, an inquest has heard.
Bronwyn Thorpe, 67, of Wellside, died in Colchester General Hospital almost four weeks after the incident.
Colchester Coroner's Court was told yesterday the cause of death was a fractured spine.
Mrs Thorpe's daughter, Marion Green, said her mother usually parked her car in the driveway of her bungalow home but on March 28, after she had been out shopping, she had parked in the road.
Neighbour Ann Morris said she glanced out of her window and saw the car, with its driver's door wide open, coming towards her on the wrong side of the road.
It appeared to gather speed and then veered off to her right and out of her view.
She grabbed a phone to dial 999 and went outside to see the car embedded in the front of a property in Wellside.
PC David Howard, of Essex Police traffic investigation unit, said he examined Mrs Thorpe's car and found it damaged consistent with the substantial structural damage to the property.
The handbrake was off, the engine running and it was in the drive position.
He said: "I believe Mrs Thorpe mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, which caused her to panic."
Coroner Caroline Beasley Murray recorded a verdict of accident, saying: "It was the most tragic of accidents."
Published Thursday December 18, 2003
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