The cause of a fatal accident when a car drifted across the road remains a mystery, an inquest heard.
Mother-of-two Susan Winterbottom, 55, had been driving home to Pownall Crescent, Colchester, when her car drifted across into the path of an oncoming car.
The inquest, at Colchester, heard Mrs Winterbottom was diabetic but took careful control over her blood sugar levels.
It may have been due to her diabetes or a momentary lapse of concentration that she drifted across the road.
Mrs Winterbottom was taken to Colchester General Hospital after the accident, on March 22 last year, but died the next day.
She had been driving along the A134, at Horkesley Hill, Great Horkesley, at about 7.30pm in her Vauxhall Nova car.
In a statement read out at the inquest, Patricia Gilbert said she was driving a Vauxhall Cavalier car down Horkesley Hill when she saw two cars approaching.
The first passed, but the second drifted across the centre of the road towards her, and within a couple of seconds had hit her car head-on.
The inquest heard she was helped from her vehicle, and a man, who was a part-time firefighter, had gone over to assist Mrs Winterbottom, who was driving the other vehicle, until the emergency services arrived.
A post-mortem examination found Mrs Winterbottom died from multiple injuries.
David Winterbottom said his wife always checked her blood sugar levels before leaving work, as a microbiologist.
Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded that Mrs Winterbottom died as a result of an accident.
Published Thursday January 29, 2004
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