Elderly sisters on weekly trip to Morecambe died after car crashed off A65 near Austwick

Jean McCracken, 89, died at the scene on November 18 last year, from multiple injuries while, her sister, Joyce Sharp, 87, who was driving, was airlifted to The Royal Preston Hospital, where she died the next day, also from multiple injuries.

The inquest in Skipton on Monday heard Mrs Sharp had suffered a medical episode and had lost consciousness while driving, causing the car to go out of control, and leave the road.

Witnesses said how the Nissan Micra had been going very slowly with a queue of cars behind it, before failing to take a left hand bend, near to the Austwick turnout, and instead had gone straight ahead, crossing into the oncoming carriageway, which fortunately was free of oncoming traffic.

The car left the road, went up a bank and down the other side where it collided with several branches before coming to rest against a tree.

The driver in the vehicle immediately behind, a retired police officer on his way home to Scotland, secured the Micra with straps to stop it slipping further down the bank.

In a written statement, George Nedley, said how he had pulled out to overtake the Micra, but had pulled back in after it had drifted towards the middle of the road. At the bend, it had crossed over the road, over the grass verge and had crashed headlong into a tree. In the car, were two elderly women, both badly injured, and both appeared to be unconscious. He had asked his wife to call emergency services, a former paramedic and an off-duty police officer had turned up, and he had used straps from his car to stop the Micra rolling.

Stuart Langford, of North Yorkshire Police’s collision unit, said the women made the trip from Morley, Leeds, to Morecambe, three times a week. Both were wearing seatbelts at the time, and there were no defects with the car. There was no evidence of braking.

Coroner, Rob Turnbull, concluded that both women had died from injuries resulting from a road traffic collision.