Retired academic died in car crash after mixing up pedals

A coroner has called for elderly motorists to have their fitness checked to drive formally after a retired academic died from injuries sustained in a car crash where she mixed up the foot pedals.

Former university education lecturer and author Dorothy Nias was on a dual carriageway when she accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake and careened over a roundabout before hitting a lamppost.

The pensioner never recovered fully from multiple injuries she sustained and died from complications five months later, aged 90.

During an inquest, it emerged relatives had urged fiercely ‘independent’ Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Oxford University-educated Miss Nias to stop driving following a series of ‘minor incidents’ in the run-up to the accident.

Coroner Emma Hillson recorded the cause of death as an accident but has sent a prevention of future deaths report to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency chief executive Julie Lennard.

Noting the total lack of oversight when drivers aged over 70 renew their licence every three years, she said: ‘In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisations have the power to take such action.’

Miss Nias was travelling downhill towards the roundabout on the A39 near Truro in Cornwall on June 14 last year when her automatic Honda Jazz sped up and veered across the road.

It hit the lamppost and spun around before coming to rest in the opposite direction to which she had been travelling.

Ms Hillson, assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: ‘Miss Nias later stated that she had confused her brake and accelerator pedals and, in an attempt to prevent hitting the vehicles in front of her in lane one, she moved to lane two.

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‘There was no evidence of any vehicle defect. There were no other vehicles involved and no evidence of any other feature that caused or contributed to this collision.

‘It was clear from the evidence that there were concerns raised by family members to Miss Nias regarding her ability to continue to drive, having had a number of minor incidents prior to this collision.

‘Despite encouragement to use alternative means of transport, she was described as independent and chose to continue.’

Miss Nias, of Trebah Wartha, Cornwall, died at a nursing home on November 6 last year. 

She ‘did not regain her mobility [and suffered] a gradual deterioration in her condition’.

There is no upper age limit for drivers at present. While those over 70 must renew their licence every three years, they make a self-declaration about their fitness to drive and do not have to present a medical check or other assessment.

Miss Hillson said in her report last week that there were 221 fatal collisions, 3,145 serious collisions and 15,868 slight injury accidents in the Devon and Cornwall Police force area between 2019 and 2023.

People aged over 70 were a ‘contributory factor’ in 28 of the fatal collisions, 310 serious collisions and 1,058 slight injury collisions.

Some 14 of those who died, 132 seriously injured and 604 slightly injured were in the same age bracket.

Last year, a coroner wrote to the Department for Transport with concerns about lack of tests for elderly drivers after a 73-year-old woman with undiagnosed dementia caused a crash that killed a baby.

Shelagh Robertson veered into the path of a van in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, forcing it onto the pavement where it hit the baby and his mother.

She was prosecuted for causing death by dangerous driving but found not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial.

Cambridgeshire area coroner Simon Milburn said there should be ‘a formal examination at an appointed time’.

Miss Nias lectured in education at King Alfred’s College in Winchester, the School of Education at the University of Liverpool as well as the Cambridge Institute of Education.

Early on in her retirement she was a part-time professor of education at the University of Plymouth.

She also wrote a number of books on education, including a longitudinal study published in 1989, Primary Teachers Talking: A Study of Teachers at Work, which followed former teacher training students throughout their careers.

The DVLA and DfT were approached by MailOnline for comment.