By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A CORONER has urged VicRoads to consider amending road regulations to prohibit the use of mobile phones by drivers in moving vehicles following the death of a Berwick woman in 2011.
The recommendation comes after Coroner Heather Spooner found no evidence to indicate Melissa Ryan’s death was caused by her Volkswagen Golf losing power just before it was hit by a truck.
Delivering her findings at the Coroners Court on Friday, Ms Spooner said 32-year-old Ms Ryan, from Berwick, was most likely distracted by a mobile phone conversation when her Volkswagen Golf was hit from behind by a B-double prime mover truck travelling eastbound on the Monash Freeway, and crashed into the barrier near Huntingdale Road on Monday 31 January 2011.
The finding comes after the court received a letter of concern from Ms Ryan’s family in July 2011 which suggested her vehicle had inexplicably slowed down and that a plausible explanation was vehicle malfunction.
The coronial investigation into Ms Ryan’s death led to a host of Volkswagen drivers claiming they had experienced losing power in their cars, after which the car manufacturer recalled more than 25,000 vehicles across Victoria.
Ms Spooner said there was no fault detected in Ms Ryan’s car but it was impossible to investigate further because the car was destroyed in December 2011, which eliminated the ability to conduct further examinations.
Ms Spooner drew on the evidence of Sergeant Peter Bellion, of Victoria Police’s Major Collision Investigations unit, that the probable cause of the crash was that Ms Ryan did not adjust her driving to the traffic around her because she was distracted by a hands-free phone conversation.
In a statement released on Friday Volkswagen Group Australia thanked the Coroner and acknowledged that her findings indicate Ms Ryan’s vehicle did not contribute to the accident.
“Volkswagen Group Australia would like to reiterate that there is no correlation between the Coronial inquest and the recent reports concerning the current transmission recalls,” the statement said.
“The vehicle at the centre of the Coronial Inquest had a manual transmission with no identified issues while the recalls only relate to certain Volkswagen vehicles with DSG transmissions.”
Addressing media on Friday Ms Ryan’s fiancée, Wayne Belford, also thanked the Coroner but said he and the rest of Ms Ryan’s family were “very disappointed” with the findings that were handed down.
“We would like to have seen the Coroner investigate more thoroughly the 300 Volkswagen drivers that have come forward on the back of thorough investigation by both Fairfax Media and the ABC in relation to safety issues they had experienced with their vehicles, which did include instances of deceleration and rapid deceleration,” Mr Belford said.
Mr Belford also said the family was concerned that the majority of the Coroner’s findings were based on assessments by members of the Major Collision Investigations Unit that were not in attendance or witness to the car accident.
Ivan Mumford, the driver of the truck which hit Ms Ryan’s Volkswagen, was advised in a police interview in March 2011 that he might be charged with careless driving but the charge was never pursued by Victoria Police.
Ms Spooner said the evidence suggested Mr Mumford kept a sufficient distance between his truck and Ms Ryan’s vehicle.
