3-week-old girl killed in crash as her mother tried to grab falling satnav
A NEWBORN girl died in a car crash after her mother was distracted by her satnav falling from the windscreen, an inquest heard.
Three-week old Ruth Kareem-Komolafe was being driven to a doctors’ surgery by her parents so they could register her as a new patient.
They had only just registered her birth in Croydon, South London, but as her mother Lutando approached a bend, her satnav fell down. She swerved into the opposite lane and into the path of an oncoming lorry.
Ruth had been in the back in the arms of her father, Adeniyi, 30, who had taken the child out of her car seat to calm her crying.
But the impact threw her into the footwell behind the front passenger seat and she died from severe head injuries at St George’s Hospital in South London the following day.
Speaking at the inquest at Croydon Coroner’s Court, Mrs Kareem-Komolafe, 27, said: ‘ It was stuck on the windscreen with a push- sucker, I just sort of reacted to it [falling].
‘I just remember in that moment I looked down and there was the lorry in front of me.’
Recording a verdict of death by road traffic collision, coroner Selena Lynch said: ‘What an absolute tragedy for your family. It was something that happens to people every day.
‘It’s a common occurrence for many who use portable satellite navigation devices, it can be a distraction and it’s so unfortunate how it happened.’
The lorry had been travelling at about 33mph but ‘was almost stationary’ when the family’s Honda Jazz hit it on a left-hand bend at 12.30pm on June 30 last year.
A statement by Mr KareemKomolafe was read to the court. It said: ‘I took Ruth out of the car seat to comfort her as she was crying and coughing.
‘I was wearing a seat belt but took it off to care for Ruth as she was really distressed. I didn’t see the satnav [fall] as Ruth was distressed and I was focused on her.
‘I was knocked out, the last [time] I saw her she was being carried into the ambulance. I just don’t understand what happened. She was in my arms but then I don’t know what happened after the collision.’
The inquest also heard from Metropolitan Police collision investigator PC Jeremy Archer who found the satnav ‘dangling by the driver’s footwell’. He said the skid marks showed the car was by the white line of the other side of the road before impact.
The coroner told Mr and Mrs Kareem-Komolafe at the hearing on Monday: ‘You were doing what parents do but taking a child out of their seat makes them so vulnerable. I know you two were both injured, I hope you both made a full recovery.
‘I’m so sorry for your loss, I hope in time you both put the distress of that day out of your mind and remember your time with Ruth.
‘I hope you forgive yourselves for what happened.’
It was the fourth fatality on the stretch of road from Croydon to New Addington in four years.