A double fatal crash caused by incorrect audio directions from a sat-nav has prompted a coroner to warn tech companies of the risk of future deaths.
Tracey Haybittle, 58, and Amal Mohamed Ahmed, 38, both died after a head-on collision when Ms Ahmed drove the wrong way down a slip road onto the A5 near Milton Keynes. She was “following audio directions from her sat-nav application”, said Sean Cummings, assistant coroner for Milton Keynes, reports the BBC.
He has written to Apple, Google and TomTom to express concerns about verbal commands “likely to confuse” drivers. All have been approached for comment.
In November 2023, Ms Ahmed was following audio directions when she drove down the slip road near the Little Brickhill junction “at speed and collided head on with Mrs Haybittle’s vehicle”, the coroner said.
She died at the scene. Her female passenger was critically injured.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report for Ms Ahmed the coroner noted police attending the crash saw three other vehicles “perform exactly the same manoeuvre as Ms Ahmed and attempt to travel down the slip road in the wrong direction”.
He said at the time, the slip road’s “no entry” signs were “inadequate”.
After the collision, National Highways narrowed the mouth of the slip road to one lane, erected another “no entry” sign and also put up signs telling drivers not to use their sat-nav. The coroner added that the monitoring by police and National Highways showed that – despite these measures – drivers were still attempting to drive the wrong way down the slip road.
