A CAR which collided with a moped, killing a Fowey teenager, had been an insurance write-off, an inquest heard.
Zoe Couch was speeding and lost control of her Ford Ka on January 25, 2010, crashing into 16-year-old Rosie Allen as she rode her moped along the A3082 Par Moor Road.
More than two and a half years after the tragedy, the inquest into Rosie's death was finally held at Truro Coroners' Court on Friday last week.
It was told how Miss Couch's Ford had previously been involved in an accident and had suffered catergory C damage – where the cost of repair work is more than the car's market value. The court also heard that, despite being road legal, Miss Couch's Ford still had "numerous defects" and was "not in a serviceable condition".
There were issues with the brakes and suspension, the wheels were the wrong size for the car and it was "not well maintained".
Miss Couch had bought the car for £600 from her boss at the Four Lords pub in St Blazey, where she worked as a barmaid.
Geoffrey Chapman, a police forensic vehicle examiner, said that in his opinion the defects could have led to "adverse handling and braking characteristics" which may have contributed to the collision.
MPC Marcus Rowe, also with Devon and Cornwall Police's road unit, said his calculations put Miss Couch at doing around 60mph, but that she was not exceeding the critical, or maximum, speed for the corner in her car of 77mph. He felt the suspension set-up and the defects made for "sub-optimal" handling and could have contributed to the collision.
There was no evidence that Miss Couch tried to brake, he said.
When questioned about the moments leading up the crash by Coroner for Cornwall, Dr Emma Carlyon, Miss Couch said: "I'm not sure – I lost control. I went to the right hand side [of the road] and tried to correct it and then oversteered and span out."
She denied she had been distracted by anything, that she was on the phone or that her music had been too loud.
Fireman Mike Warren, who attended the scene shortly after the collision, said the music in the Ford Ka suddenly burst into life and was "earsplitting".
He said: "The music coming from the car made it difficult to concentrate and communicate. It was like music coming from a nightclub," he said.
It was unclear whether the music – which turned itself on – was at the volume level previously set in the car or whether the accident had caused the system to malfunction and play at full volume.
"[The music] was on [while I was driving] but it was not excessively loud," said Miss Couch. She also said she didn't notice any of the car's defects.
"I thought the car was fine. It was nice to drive," she added.
She "didn't remember" if she was speeding or not.
One of the first people on the scene was ambulance technician Stephanie Barrett.
In a statement to the court, she said that Rosie's moped "looked like a lump of metal" after the crash, so extensive was the damage.
"It was like a bomb had gone off, there was so much debris everywhere," she added.
Rosie's body was thrown into the undergrowth alongside Par Moor Road and was partially submerged in a ditch.
Despite concerns from others on the scene that she may have suffered severe spinal injuries, Ms Barrett moved Rosie fearing as she may drown if the upper half of her body wasn't taken out of the water.
"There must have been speed involved to rip the young girl's clothes off"," she added.
Describing Zoe's Ford Ka, she said: "I couldn't believe anyone could have gotten out of the vehicle in the condition it was in."
Zoe's dad, Keith Couch, said his daughter was on her way to college in St Austell when he received a call from her.
"She was hysterical and crying," he said. She told her father: "I've had an accident I think she's dead," he said in a statement to the inquest.
"[Zoe said to me] I tried but I couldn't move out of the way.
"I was going along and the car just shot across to the other side of the road."
Recording an open verdict, Dr Carlyon said: "It is not clear what role the defects, music or mobile phone played in the loss of control of the car."
