Learner driver and mother-of-five died after ‘panicked response’, coroner finds

A mother-of-five who never got her full licence and drove unsupervised for 10 years died in a crash caused by her “panicked response” to slippery road conditions near Launceston, a coroner has found.

A LEARNER driver who drove for a decade unsupervised and without her L-plates died when she panicked on slippery roads after taking her daughter to two birthday parties, a coroner has found.

Mother-of-five Catherine Clara Arundel-Clarke, 34, was returning home from Launceston to Lebrina with her daughter – 10-year-old Thylacine – when the accident occurred in March 2018, Coroner Olivia McTaggart said in her findings released yesterday.

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Ms McTaggart said Mrs Arundel-Clarke first got her learner’s licence in 2008, but didn’t feel confident to take her provisional licence test, so renewed her learner’s permit at the end of each year.

She said her husband “constantly” reminded her to get her provisional license, but Mrs Arundel-Clarke would simply reply she was “getting to it” without taking any action.

Then from March 2014, Mrs Arundel-Clarke stopped renewing her learner’s permit, but continued driving her children to school at Lilydale and sporting events in the family’s Mitsubishi Delica van.

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But Ms McTaggart noted the woman, who was described as a slow and “very cautious driver”, did not improve in her driving skill level.

On the day of her death, while exiting a turn on slippery roads, Mrs Arundel-Clarke drove her van to the extreme left of the lane, applying harsh braking that made the front left wheel lock.

The van skidded before striking a metal guidepost, with Mrs Arundel-Clark steering hard and the vehicle rotating anticlockwise, sliding and rolling twice through a farm wire fence.

A railway iron support post crushed the van’s roof, crushing Mrs Arundel-Clarke’s head and chest area, before the van came to a stop on its roof.

Thylacine managed to unclasp her seat belt and escape without serious injury, running to the roadway for help.

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Mrs Arundel-Clarke was declared deceased at the scene by paramedics.

Her cause of death was found to be cerebral trauma to the right side of the skull and a cranial fracture with subarachnoid bleeding.

The van was later found to be unroadworthy, but only the tyres – that had poor tread – were deemed to have contributed to the crash.

Ms McTaggart said Mrs Arundel-Clarke’s inability to competently drive a motor vehicle was a major cause of the crash.

“Her … harsh application of the brakes and steering input demonstrated a panicked response to the potential loss of control of the van,” she said.

“This response caused a full loss of control and significantly contributed to the crash.”