Coroner's warning after sat-nav led to fatal crash

A double fatal crash caused by incorrect audio directions from a sat-nav has prompted a coroner to warn tech companies - including Apple and Google - of a 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.

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.

CCTV monitoring also began, the coroner said.

However, he said 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.

Information from both police and members of the public found commonly used sat-nav applications displayed the correct visual map, but the verbal commands "gave information likely to confuse and direct drivers down the wrong slip road into the path of oncoming traffic".

"This was observed to happen frequently," the coroner said.

As well as the tech companies, the coroner sent a copy of his report to National Highways.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “Every road death is a devastating loss of life, and our deepest sympathies are  with the family and friends of Tracey Haybittle and Amal Ahmed, and all those affected by this tragic incident.”

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