Driver killed after mistaking accelerator pedal for brake - car smashes into tree
Published: 24 September 2010
by JOSIE HINTON
A WOMAN was killed when her car smashed into a tree after she mistook the accelerator pedal for the brake, an inquest heard.
Afsaneh Hejezi, of Prince Albert Road, St John’s Wood, was driving home from a restaurant in Finchley Road, where she had been celebrating a birthday, when her silver Lexus collided with a tree outside West Hampstead police station.
Witnesses saw the car suddenly speed up and lurch into the tree. Damage to the front and driver side meant she had to be cut from the car by firefighters but ambulance staff could not save her, despite carrying out CPR on the pavement.
A toxicology report confirmed Ms Hejezi had not been drinking alcohol.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday that the 55-year-old had been wearing uncomfortable shoes for the evening but had changed before getting into the car – suggesting she may have suffered “pedal confusion”.
PC Stephen Sawyer told the court: “If you change footwear it actually changes the shape of your foot. It is actually quite common, particularly with automatic vehicles, that the person puts their foot on the accelerator when they believe it is the brake.”
Coroner Selina Lynch recorded a verdict of accidental death.