Elderly woman killed after lorry reversed over her in York

Police guard the scene of the tragedy in Osbaldwick in January 2020 (Image: The Press)

AN ELDERLY woman died after a skip lorry reversed over her at the entrance to a York waste business, an inquest was told today.

The inquest heard that Betty Elizabeth Smith, 73, who lived on the nearby Osbaldwick travellers’ site in Outgang Lane, died on January 29, 2020, at Osbaldwick.

The tragedy happened when she was paying a regular visit to Martins of York, a skip hire and waste management company in Osbaldwick Lane, where she would collect free wood from a wheelie bin left outside the entrance by staff.

She was left lying in a puddle of mud, suffering injuries including fractured ribs and extensive internal injuries, and she died at the scene.

A post mortem examination showed the cause of her death was chest and pelvic injuries.

The inquest was told that the lorry had an audible reversing noise, although it was a busy site with a lot of background noise.

The lorry also had side mirrors but had no CCTV camera or sensors to allow the driver to know what was behind the vehicle, and there was a ‘blind spot’ where no one could be seen from the cab, and the driver was unaware Betty Smith was behind his vehicle.

Following inspections, there were no faults found with the braking system of the lorry.

The inquest heard that a risk assessment had been carried out for lorries backing out of the entrance to the yard, and instructions were given to do this safely.

This included using a ‘backs man’ to guide vehicles and segregating pedestrians from the area at the time.

It was also heard that Mrs Smith was known to some members of staff, as she was often seen in the area given its close proximity to the traveller site where she lived.

Members of staff would often collect pieces of wood from Martin’s for the traveller community, which were believed to be used in a log burner.

They would leave wood outside the gates to try to prevent members of the traveller community entering the site, which was dangerous to members of the public.

The driver of another lorry visiting the yard, Graham Buckingham, said he sounded his air horn when he saw what was happening to try to raise the attention of the skip lorry driver, who hadn’t seen the woman behind his lorry before he started reversing.

The inquest continues.