Devon triple death crash mum may have fallen asleep
FacebookA crash that killed a mother and her 12-year-old twins may have been caused by the mother falling asleep at the wheel, an inquest has heard.
Jane Baker-Lockett, 43, and her children James and Amy Gaskin, from the Milton Keynes area, died in the crash which was seen by their stepfather.
Mrs Baker-Lockett had steered into the opposing lane, the inquest heard.
Her falling asleep or being distracted could have caused the crash on the A361 in Devon last year, the coroner said.
The hearing came a day after another inquest heard how Keira Ball, nine, died in a crash on the same stretch of road the day before, on 30 July 2017.
That inquest also heard Keira's mother Loanna Ball may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Thursday's hearing at County Hall, Exeter, heard Mrs Baker-Lockett's white Kia Sportage and an oncoming lorry collided near Barnstaple at 08:25 BST.
Stepfather Paul Lockett said the family left their home in Milton Keynes at about 03:00 BST to travel to north Devon and had gone to bed early the previous night in preparation.
His wife and the twins were travelling behind him and his 14-year-old stepson in her Kia, which the inquest heard was travelling between 52-60mph.
Mr Lockett said: "I watched as it slowly drifted out of out lane and into the opposite carriageway where it collided head-on with a large lorry."
'Huge impact'
Adrian Kislingbury, the driver of the HGV, said in a statement he was driving at 49mph when he noticed Mrs Baker-Lockett's pull out from behind a red Vauxhall and into his lane.
He said the manoeuvre was "sudden" and looked like an attempt to overtake the Vauxhall.
He said he steered to the left and braked but there was a "huge impact and bang". He was "devastated" by what happened.
Forensic collision investigator Philip Rowan-Smith said there was no evidence Mrs Baker-Lockett steered or braked to try to avoid the collision, nor was there any evidence she had "wanted to harm herself or her children".
He said there was also no evidence of alcohol, drugs, a medical event or defects with the vehicles being a factor.
Coroner Philip Spinney concluded the three died from multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic collision.
He said: "The absence of any physical evidence supports the possibility Mrs Baker-Lockett was suffering from sleepiness when the collision occurred."
