Distraction while driving leads to grandmother’s death in road traffic accident.

On 27^th October 2011, a road accident claimed life of a 62 year old grandmother. The accident took place in Branham on the A134 highway. The victim, Glynis Laidlaw from Hawthorn Walk, Theford, was seated in the car being driven by her daughter Sarah Mann. Unfortunately, the accident was avoidable since it happened because Mann was distracted from driving. The saddest part of the tragedy is that the distraction was brought about by the accident victim, Glynic Laidlaw. Details were revealed by the victim’s daughter, Sarah Mann.

Sarah Mann’s car lost its track and waded into the wrong side of the road, which lead to a front on collision with an oncoming vehicle. According to her, her mother was seated in the backseat and was in the process of putting some change in her purse. This was just before the collision. Her last memory before the collision was of her mother putting the change in her handbag. Next thing she remembers is medics administering CPR to her mother. She was inconsolable in the light of her mother’s death, having spent the last hours of her mother’s life shopping with her in Bury St Edmund. Mann’s daughter also accompanied them on the shopping expedition. The car accidenthappened at 3.12 PM when the mother-daughter duo were driving back home after shopping.

One witness of the accident, Samantha Travers-Ashman, said that she saw a grey Polo car break out of the row and drift onto the wrong side. She was driving just a few cars behind Mrs. Mann on the highway. She was wondering at the behaviour of the car when it rammed into a Rover which was coming from the opposite direction. The driver of the Rover, Evaldas Kazlawskas, who saw the car drifting into his lane tried to avoid the collision to the best of his ability failed to do so. The investigation that ensued revealed that drivers driving in that stretch of the road needed to steer their car to the right at a crucial point, failing which the car was very likely to run into the wrong side of the road. It was confirmed by Dan Sharpstone, the assistant coroner that Laidlaw’ death happened in a road traffic accident. Both the cars were investigated and no mechanical faults have been found in either of the cars.

Everybody in Mrs. Laidlaw’s family is devastated by her sudden death. Paul, Mrs. Laidlaw’s son, said that his mother has always been a generous and kind hearted person. She befriended everybody she met and always was nice and amiable to people around her, which in turn made her everybody’s favourite. He further added that the vacuum created by her death could never be filled. She was the heart of Laidlaw family. Her death is indeed a huge loss.

With regard to making car accident claims the family might be in talks with a no win no fee solicitor. The family along with the solicitors will decide about the amount of car accident claim to be made.

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