A man discovered his girlfriend had been killed in a horror crash on a motorway as he sat in a traffic jam caused by the fatal accident, an inquest heard.
Sorina Gheorge, 24, had been exhausted from working extra shifts at her new job when she crashed on the M5 near Worcester as she drove to work in Aston, Birmingham, to inspect Jaguar parts at around 5am on Wednesday, April 3.
She panicked while trying to overtake a van and her vehicle launched sideways as she tried to correct herself.
But she ended up driving across two lanes of traffic at 60mph.
After spinning 180 degrees she came to a halt facing oncoming traffic and was hit head-on by a Land Rover Discovery.
Sorina Gheorge’s boyfriend, Cristian Miculaiciuc, 24, was among thousands of drivers trapped in queues following the crash on the M5 on Wednesday, April 3 (the couple are pictured together)
Rescue teams dragged her out of her wrecked Peugeot 206 but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her boyfriend, Cristian Miculaiciuc, 24, was among thousands of drivers trapped in queues following the crash on the M5 on April 3.
After an hour of queuing police called him to say she had been killed.
An inquest heard Romanian-born Ms Gheorge had started the job three weeks earlier but was nervous about driving on the motorway because she was not used to UK roads.
Tragically the day before she died she had worked an extended shift at the plant and was ‘very tired’.
PC Mark Murphy, forensic investigator for West Mercia Police, reviewed dashcam footage of the crash.
He told Worcestershire Coroner’s Court Ms Gheorge’s accidental actions had resulted in ‘violent and substantial impact’ with the other car.
He said: ‘The manner of driving is indicative of a novice, unconfident or nervous driver.
‘She had attempted three manoeuvres but barely flashed her indicators before pulling out each time.’
The inquest heard she lost control after failing to notice the white van and trailer being driven by Benjamin Brady.
She swerved back having just missed making contact with the van and then ‘in an attempt to regain proper control [began] steering towards the offside while braking hard.’
An inquest heard Romanian-born Ms Gheorge (pictured) had started the job three weeks earlier but was nervous about driving on the motorway because she was not used to UK roads
PC Murphy said there was a ‘degree of panic’ in Ms Gheorge as she attempted the re-position and when she tried to correct the other way.
He added: ‘It’s that combination of both left and right.
‘With a novice driver the tendency is to keep on the brakes, when releasing the brakes is often more beneficial.’
The crash happened on a section of SMART motorway where there is no hard shoulder and there are no lampposts so was ‘very dark at the time.’
The inquest heard Ms Gheorge had moved to the UK from Romania with her mother Lulia Gainar and they lived together in Worcester.
She told the hearing Ms Gheorge had complained of headaches and tiredness in the days before the fatal crash.
She added: ‘I think she had a lot on, and she was just doing too much.
‘She was not a confident driver and she had complained that the roads are wider with a lot more cars in the UK.’
Mrs Gainar said her daughter had just started a factory job three weeks before which required her to drive on the motorway and the previous day she had worked an extended shift.
The inquest also heard from William Chin, who had set off from Suffolk with his dad, and had been driving in lane three when the crash happened.
In a statement read out in court, he described hearing an ‘almighty bang’ as the two cars collided.
He said: ‘I could see the driver side of the car was completely crushed inwards and the driver was not moving.’
CPR was given to Ms Gheorge at the scene of the crash before she went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 6.04am.
Assistant coroner Simon Charlton said Ms Gheorge was ‘very tired and suffering from hay fever’ at the time of her death.
He concluded she had died from multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic collision.