Ellie Chappell

On 09/01/2017 commenced an investigation into the death of Ellie Chappell; 21_ The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 14 June 2017_ conclusion of the inquest was Road Traffic Collision. Ellie Chappell died on A614 Selby Road on 2nd January 2017 after hitting a patch of ice whilst driving her motor vehicle which led to loss of control of her vehicle_ The resultant collision led to catastrophic injuries and her immediate death from multiple traumatic head injuries

Ellie Chappell was travelling along the A614 on the morning of the 2nd January 2017 at a moderate speed well within the prescribed speed limit for that stretch of carriageway During the course of negotiating a right-hand bend with a reduced speed commensurate with the icy road conditions, her vehicle struck a patch of ice causing her vehicle to rotate after which followed over correction of steering causing her to present the offside of her vehicle to a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction: She sustained extensive injuries with death being confirmed at the scene During the course of the hearing received evidence from of South Yorkshire Police who had investigated this matter. Part of his investigation included obtaining data on previous accidents on that stretch of carriageway and linformed me that since 2011 there had been 14 collisions on that stretch of road, four of which included serious injury: Two of those were on the same bend where Miss Chappell lost control and both these had slippery road as a factor: Of the others linformed me that five of those recorded incidents had slippery roads as a factor. He also described to me the location as having the road sheltered to an extent by surrounding bushes and trees before opening out into an unsheltered area which would be more prone t0 ice on the road. Given this information and in particular the statistics available from 2011, the absence of any warning of any slippery conditions on the stretch of carriageway and wintery conditions was of some concern. informed me that there are steps that can be taken to warn drivers of such impending hazards.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and believe you have the power to take such action: