Holly Carter, 21, was driving at around 69mph when she crashed her car into a tree in Lancashire
A mother-of-one who had been promoted at work died as she raced to get to an early morning shift, an inquest heard.
Holly Carter, 21, was thought to have been late for her 6am start at McDonald’s at the Blackburn with Darwen motorway services on the M65, when she crashed her car.
As the mum from Hapton tried to negotiate a bend her white Vauxhall Corsa spun out of control, veered across the carriageway and ploughed into a tree, on October 26 last year.
Miss Carter suffered multiple injuries in the crash on the A679 in Hapton, Lancashire and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the accident was caused by ‘excessive speed.’
It is believed Holly drove at speeds of up to 69mph on the 50mph road.
Miss Carter, who had a three-year-old son named Ethan, was passing the Bentley Wood Farm pub at around 5.50am when the crash happened.
Witness Gaynor Denny said: ‘I was driving home when I saw a Vauxhall Corsa coming towards me, losing control as it came round a bend.
‘I started to slow my car and then saw the Corsa go into the trees with lots of smoke coming out of it. The whole incident lasted about five seconds. The weather was good and fine and although it was dark the street lighting was on.’
Eye witness James Longson said: ‘I arrived at work and parked in the car park which is adjacent to the road. My attention was drawn to the sound of a car and saw it coming from the left out of control and could hear screeching of the tyres travelling in excess of 50mph. It appeared to spin and rise into the air before coming to a stop.
‘I got out of my vehicle and went over to the car and I saw one occupant slumped towards the passenger side. But there was no sign of life. The whole incident was over in seconds.’
Holly Carter, 21, had a three-year-old son named Ethan when she died. Her mother has pleaded with young drivers to slow down in Holly’s memory
Holly’s heartbroken mother Gail Kirby pleaded with youngsters to slow down following the tragic accident.
In a post on Facebook, shortly after the accident, she wrote: ‘It was like someone had stuck a knife in me and twisted it. She was up early morning late for work but to think she would probably only have got to work a minute or less sooner.
‘To lose your life for nothing is unbearable. I’ve been in the car many times with Holly and felt totally safe I have seen cctv of the accident and it’s over in 2 to 3 seconds she had 2 separate injuries which would have proved fatal and instant death so she had no chance I’m begging all her friends work colleagues members of the public slow down in memory of Holly she took a chance and made a silly mistake and we have to live with that the rest of our lives.’
Holly Carter, 21, was recently promoted at work when she crashed her car into a tree and died at the scene
PC Rachel Carberry – a road traffic collision investigator for Lancashire Police said Holly was wearing a seatbelt and the road condition was ‘fine’.
She said: ‘CCTV footage confirmed that her car had gone sideways along the pavement. She had her brakes on but not fully which confirm the marks at the scene.
‘The vehicle has come from a left hand bend and if that is taken at a fast speed then it can’t cope and the back of the car will straighten out. This can also be caused by excessive steering.
‘From looking at the scene I estimated the car to be travelling somewhere in the region of 60 to 70mph. When I looked at the footage I was able to establish that the car was travelling between 61 and 69mph when it was travelling across the pavement and towards the tree.
‘I concluded that the driver has lost control due to excessive speed and, or inaccurate steering either on or exiting the bend which put Holly’s vehicle into a spin. It is extremely difficult to get the control back once the vehicle has begun rotating.’