Elizabeth Potter died when she was struck on the A30 near Shaftesbury. She had been close-passed by a vehicle which “had not indicated, braked or moved from its lane” and this caused her to lose control, falling onto the road. She was then hit by a Honda Civic whose driver was “travelling around 40mph to 45mph and was about four car lengths from the vehicle in front” and who failed to swerve out of the way in time. Her bicycle was not struck and was undamaged, leading the inquest to infer that she had not been struck by the first vehicle (reports do not indicate whether any impact injuries to the right arm were found in the post mortem).
Reports mention a Vauxhall panel van being sought in connection with the incident, but the report of the inquest notes that CCTV footage from a nearby shop was unclear and the vehicle “was possibly a 4×4”.
A 22 year old man was arrested and bailed but there are no reports of any charge being made.
Coroner David Ridley recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.
The incident appears to have echoes of the death of Elizabeth Brown, where one driver made a poor overtake and a second, following closely, failed to see her until the first had passed.